Last updated on September 25, 2021
Question:
Hi sir,
I recently used the Tanner Stage Calculator and my result was 4.2 or 4.3. I don’t know if I am a late bloomer or just a bit later than average. I turn 18 next month. My height is 176 cm, and the prediction of the Predicting Your Adult Height predicts my adult height to be 181 cm. I think that I may reach my adult height at 21 years old.
I have read on Quora and from a pediatrician named Frank Butera who answers many youngster questions about height. Mostly he replies that humans being from stage 4.0 to stage 5 or 5.5 will grow 3-5 inches taller from beginning to reaching the adult height. So what do you think?
By the way, in my ethnicity, the average height is 180 cm, but all youngsters about my age are taller. Most of them look to be somewhere from 185 to 200 cm. Many in my ethnicity are really tall. Almost all my friends who are of the same ethnicity are taller than me. I am the second or third shortest in my friend group and age group.
My parents’ heights are 163 cm and 184 cm. My mother stopped growing at 18, and my father kept growing to 20 1/2 or 21. He told me that he was 180 cm at 18, and ended up being 184 cm at 21.
I don’t have any siblings, but all my male cousins are about 178-190 cm and the female cousins are 165-180 cm.
I hope that you can give me the best answer, I would appreciate it very much. And God bless you
Answer:
How much a boy grows in stage 4 depends on the working definition of when stage 4 begins. The classic answer is that it begins when growth in height begins to slow down. This definition causes a lot of problems, such as dealing with pauses in growth or dealing with a person who doesn’t have a dramatic growth spurt. I use the definition of when growth in height slows back down to childhood growth rates. If the doctor is using the classic definition, then there is more time in stage 4 and you have the tail end of the growth spurt, so boys would easily grow 3 to 5 inches taller. The definition I am using is later and typically there are only 1 to 3 inches (3 to 8 cm) of growth left before stage 5 is reached.
To say that growth in height continues after stage 5 is reached contradicts the definition of stage 5. What I would assume the doctor is doing is putting in a fudge factor for incorrect estimates of what stage a person has reached. He tells people that some keep growing after stage 5 instead of admitting he (or others) estimated stage 5 too early.
Using your parents’ heights, boys in your family would be between 173 cm and 198 cm. You are already in that range. Given that the calculator’s results were close to accurate, a final height of 181 cm would be reasonable.
Question:
Thank you soo much for the reply. Am I a late bloomer because I am at stage 4.2 and almost 18? Because the average 18-year-old is already going through stage 5 or at the end part of stage 4?
Answer:
The normal range for stage 4 to begin is anywhere from age 12 to 18. It is quite a large range, but there is a lot of variance between individuals. You are on the late end of the normal range, but nothing too unusual.
Late bloomers are defined to be boys who don’t show outward signs of puberty by the age of 14. It is not unusual for a boy to miss the early signs and not realize he is changing until he reaches stage 3, but in this case, we are talking about someone who doesn’t have the outward signs and is 14 years old or older. I don’t know if this applied to you or not. It wasn’t something you mentioned.
Response:
Thank you for the information!