Re: Will people stop growing at about 14 years?

The hormones of puberty regulate the timing of adolescent growth. Typically, females experience a growth spurt begining about age 10 which slows by age 14 and is usually complete by 16.

Males' growth spurts start later (about 12) and can continue until age 18 or after. However, I should stress that these ages are only averages, normal timing for individuals can vary by 2-3 years in either direction. Some 14 year olds are in the late stages of puberty, others have barely begun, and either condition is perfect normal.

It sounds like you are wondering whether you have reached your full adult height. It's impossible to say, but in trying to guess, other factors in your maturity are more telling than just your chronological age. Females often reach their full height 2-3 years after they begin to menstruate; males should consider whether or not their voice has changed. If you are truly concerned, ask your doctor. A physican assesses the stage of puberty using several criteria, including breast development for girls, penis and testicular growth for boys and pubic hair patterns for both sexes. This gives a better idea of how close puberty is to being through, and how likely it is that the adolescent growth spurt is over.

Height is determined by bone growth. Children's bones growth plates; areas that have not entirely calcified and continue to grow. In females, the steroid hormone estrogen, which is produced by the ovary and increases during puberty, causes fusion of the growth plates, so growth stops when estrogen reaches adult levels, about 2-3 years after the first menstrual period. For males, the steroid hormone androgen (secreted by the testes; it also rises with puberty) at first stimulates bone growth (this is why males are usually taller than females by adulthood) but eventually also causes fusion of the growth plates. Teenage athletes who abuse steroids can actually wind up fusing their growth plates prematurely and end up shorter than they would have been! If a doctor is suspicious that growth is abnormal, the bones of the hands and legs can be X-rayed to see how much room is left in the growth plates. Such tests are neccessary only if a child is much taller or shorter than his or her peers, though.

Assuming no medical problem, such as a growth hormone deficiency, there is little you can do to affect your final adult height or how fast you reach it, other than eat a good diet and let nature take its course. In some cases, medical conditions can cause delayed puberty, but in these cases there is no sign of development at all (growth spurt, breast development or testicular growth) by age 15. Again, if this is a concern your should ask your doctor.