Do late bloomers stay short or grow faster rapidly?

Last updated on August 31, 2020

Question:

Can I grow a whole foot during a growth spurt? Do late bloomers stay short or grow faster rapidly?

Answer:

You won’t likely grow an entire foot in a year, but it is definitely possible to put on a foot or even more during the growth period. Whether that will happen to you is not possible for me to say.

Late bloomers tend to grow up tall and slender. Tall because they start their growth from a higher point [Yehuda Limony, “Age of onset of a normally timed pubertal growth spurt affects the final height of children“, Pediatric Research]. Slender because the body tends to be in a rush to finish adolescence. Late bloomers tend to spend less time in stage four and, therefore, don’t develop as wide of shoulders. But these are general trends and not absolutes.