After puberty, many young people are concerned about whether height can still be developed. Is there still a chance to increase height and have a superior stature when growing up? Let’s explore this topic in more detail in the following article.
What is puberty?
Puberty is a process in which the body undergoes significant physical changes, transitioning from childhood to a fully functional adult body with reproductive capabilities.
For girls, puberty typically begins and ends between the ages of 9-16. Typical signs that a child has entered puberty include breast development, changes in genitalia, the appearance of vaginal discharge, the growth of pubic hair, the development of body odor and underarm hair, the onset of menstruation, and the possibility of acne.
Boys experience puberty between the ages of 10-18. Signs of puberty in boys include the growth of pubic and facial hair, a deeper and more pronounced voice, the appearance of an Adam’s apple, the development of the penis to adult size, the occurrence of ejaculation, and the growth of underarm hair and body odor.
This is also the stage where children experience rapid growth in height and weight. After 1-2 years of puberty, children can grow taller, wider, and appear significantly different from before.
How does puberty affect height?
Puberty is the period of significant growth in height for both males and females. The peak height growth rate during puberty is around 10-15cm/year, with growth gradually slowing down after this period.
For girls, height growth may peak between the ages of 10-14, while boys may experience their peak height growth between the ages of 12-15. Growth rate gradually decreases after age 15 in girls and age 17 in boys.
The reason for this significant growth during puberty is due to the following factors:
Sex hormones: Estrogen in girls and testosterone in boys are hormones that are produced more during puberty and stimulate rapid bone development, leading to a significant increase in height during this period.
Growth hormone: This is the factor that directly affects bone development and height. During puberty, the pituitary gland produces more growth hormone than in other periods of life, which contributes to the rapid increase in height.
During puberty, children also have better body proportions and physical fitness, and they can participate in many sports and high-intensity exercises. This also supports natural height development.
Can height still be increased after puberty?
After puberty, height can still increase, but the growth rate will be lower than during the puberty period. It is estimated that with proper health care, children may gain an additional 3-5cm/year after puberty. Therefore, even after puberty, children still have the opportunity to improve their height and gain a few more centimeters to feel more confident about their stature.
Normally, height stops developing around 18-20 years old. After age 20, most of us cannot increase our height anymore because the growth plates at the ends of our bones have completely closed. Natural height increase efforts after age 20 are ineffective, and the only way to increase height after this age is through leg-lengthening surgery. However, only a few people are willing to undergo this painful and expensive procedure, which carries a high risk of complications.
Causes of slow height development after puberty
During puberty, the endocrine gland produces more sex hormones and growth hormone, which stimulates rapid height growth. After puberty, the endocrine gland activity slows down, and the levels of these hormones decrease significantly. This is the reason why height growth slows down after puberty.
According to the natural growth law, height development only occurs up to a certain point and stops completely, unlike weight, which can fluctuate. The period after puberty is considered a plateau, where bone development slows down gradually and comes to a complete stop between the ages of 18-20.
Effective ways to increase height after puberty
To achieve a standard stature when fully grown, you need to pay attention to height care from an early age, especially during the period after puberty. Here are some effective ways to increase height after puberty:
Diversify your diet
Each meal of the day, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, should be prepared carefully and consist of diverse foods to provide your body with the four essential nutrient groups: protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. If you tend to eat certain foods or have a picky eating habit, you should try to adjust your diet to provide your body with sufficient nutrition.
Here are some foods that are good for height development and should not be overlooked:
- Chicken meat
- Eggs
- Lean pork
- Salmon
- Tuna
- Shrimp
- Crab
- Spinach
- Broccoli
- Sweet potato
- Orange
Drinking milk daily
Milk is a highly nutritious beverage that is beneficial for height and overall health. Drinking milk daily is also an effective way to increase height during the post-puberty period. Calcium, protein, vitamin D, and vitamin A found in milk help strengthen the bones and promote both the length and thickness of bones. This is highly beneficial for natural height growth.
You can choose to drink cow’s milk, plant-based milk, or consume dairy products such as yogurt, cheese, and butter according to your preference. Although the nutritional value of these products may vary, the differences are not significant.
The recommended daily amount of milk intake for adolescents is 350-500ml. The best time to drink milk is after breakfast and 2 hours before bedtime. Avoid drinking milk before meals as it may make you feel full and less hungry.
Engaging in sports activities
After puberty, you can choose the sports activities you enjoy because your physique and fitness at this stage are suitable for most sports. Proper exercise can help accumulate minerals in bones, strengthen bones, and increase bone density effectively. In addition, exercise can support the endocrine gland to secrete growth hormones, which help bones grow faster.
The sports activities that promote good height growth include:
- Swimming
- Volleyball
- Basketball
- Football
- Jumping rope
- Running
- Hanging on a horizontal bar
- Yoga
- Cycling
You should allocate about 60 minutes per day for exercise to provide the best conditions for height growth.
Getting enough sleep, wearing comfortable clothing, and getting enough vitamin D through sunlight exposure are all simple and effective ways to promote natural height growth during puberty.
Sleeping before 10 PM
The timing of sleep has a significant impact on the natural height growth process during puberty. The body is in a deep sleep state from 11 PM to 1 AM, during which the pituitary gland is in an optimal condition to produce growth hormones. The more growth hormones are secreted, the better the height growth is.
Getting enough deep sleep each day also helps the body recover effectively after a long day of work, relaxes the mind, and improves concentration for the next day. To promote good height growth and maintain good health, it is recommended to go to bed before 10 PM every day and get 8-10 hours of sleep per day. A clean, airy bedroom with a suitable temperature creates a comfortable space for the body to sleep well every day.
Wearing comfortable clothing
Few people pay attention to choosing comfortable clothing to wear every day, often prioritizing clothing based on their preferences and circumstances. However, regularly wearing tight, non-stretchy clothes can cause skin irritation, restrict movement, and especially hinder physical activity, especially when playing sports. Wearing tight clothes also increases the risk of infection in the genital area, adversely affecting health.
To promote good height growth, it is best to choose loose, breathable, stretchy clothing that can absorb sweat well to truly feel comfortable during exercise, work, and study every day.
Sunbathing
Sunbathing is the simplest and most effective way to supplement vitamin D for the body. Vitamin D helps the skeletal system absorb calcium and phosphorus more easily, strengthening bones and promoting faster height growth. Without sufficient vitamin D, bones can still be at risk of calcium deficiency even if you eat plenty of calcium-rich foods.
Just 15-20 minutes of sun exposure per day is enough for the skin to synthesize the necessary amount of vitamin D. The best time for sunbathing is before 10 AM and after 4 PM when the sun’s intensity is gentle. Avoid sun exposure at midday, as the UV index in sunlight at this time is very high and can harm both the skin and health.
Drinking enough water
Water plays an important role in the process of natural height growth. Without enough water, nutrients cannot dissolve and transport to cells efficiently, causing fatigue, lack of energy, and difficulty in physical activities and relaxation. This can hinder natural physical development, especially during the height growth period after puberty.
You need to drink enough water every day. Your water needs may vary based on your body weight. The formula commonly used to calculate the amount of water needed is body weight (kg) x 0.03, in liters. Drinking filtered water is the best option for health and height growth. You can also choose to drink orange juice, smoothies, or herbal tea.
Mental relaxation
Psychological stress during puberty can have a negative impact on health and physical growth. When you often feel sad or have negative thoughts, your eating, exercising, and resting schedule can be disrupted, and the hormones that make your body tend to be lazy, tired, or difficult to control, can be stimulated excessively.
Some people who are too eager to increase their height and do not see the expected results often fall into a state of frustration and give up on themselves. This can hinder height growth during the crucial period after puberty.
Try to maintain a relaxed mental state and a healthy lifestyle during the height growth period.
Controlled exposure to electronic devices
Electronic devices are an important part of modern life, serving both educational and entertainment purposes, as well as connecting people socially. However, spending too much time using electronic devices can limit the time for rest, eating, and physical activity.
Even worse, many young people skip meals, stay up late, or ignore physical activity just to play games, chat with friends, surf the web… This is the main reason for the decline in health and the negative impact on height growth during the period after puberty.
Only use electronic devices when necessary, control the time spent on them every day, and ensure proper eating, exercising, and resting are the principles you need to remember if you want to achieve superior height growth during the period after puberty.
Using supplements
During the post-pubertal stage, the body requires a lot of nutrients to support physical activity and promote height growth. Through regular meals alone, it can be difficult to meet the necessary nutritional needs for maximum height development. Supplements are an excellent choice to provide important nutrients that help build strong and healthy bones, and promote optimal growth.
Supplements that provide calcium, collagen type II, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, and other essential nutrients are all important components that play a role in bone structure and determine bone strength. The amount of each nutrient is carefully calculated to complement the diet and ensure a healthy body without any negative impacts.
Modern technology has enabled supplements to be easily absorbed by the body, allowing for maximum nutrient uptake. These supplements are a powerful tool to support post-pubertal individuals in achieving their maximum height growth potential.
Height can still continue to develop after puberty, but relying on post-puberty growth alone can result in slow height growth. It is important to make the most of the post-pubertal stage when height growth is rapid by utilizing effective ways to increase height during this period and boost self-confidence in life.
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