Do
children tend to be about the same height as their parents or at least inherit
the height of one of them? That’s a question many of us might have asked
ourselves throughout our lifetime. The typical question every time one goes to
the doctor as a child is “how tall are you?” Height has always played a major
role in ones life as it did in school for example. Remember the taller students
usually had to stand in the back of the class picture and the shorter students
in the front row.
The truth is, though parents’ genes
influence the height of a child tremendously, the height outcome of children in
many families vary. Other environmental factors like nutrition play a huge role
on the resulting height of a child along with the genes inherited as mentioned
in the New York Times article. However, though results vary from family to
family, doctors today use a formula to calculate the height outcome of most
children as adults. Yet, the formulas for boys and girls differ.
However, say there is a family of two parents
and three children of the same sex, though all three children have the same
parents and the same sex it does not necessarily mean they will have the same
height. I was really amused about the fact that younger children in a family
tend to be shorter and grow slower. This article reminded me how important it
is for us to do our best at acquiring a solid nutrition. It is so important for
us to realize how much environmental factors influence our life and how they
have influenced our genes!
This is very interesting. However, personally I am 5'10" while my parents are 5'8" and 5'4" and my older sister is 5'4". In my experience this is hard to believe. My parents and I have always thought the height skipped a generaion (my grandpa is tall). Though, this is very interesting to see that parent's height greatly influences height of offspring.
ReplyDeleteI always wondered why I was the tallest one in my family! My sisters come in at 5'4" each and my mother 5'6" where as my father and I are both 5'7". Also, does age a person begins to wither factor into this? My mothers father is as tall as he ever was and he is 89 but my father at age 58 is now beginning to shrink already. A recent back to back measurement left him disappointed at his lacking height. Another factor to consider is my grandfathers bar tending job compared to my fathers very strenuous elevator construction job. More research needed!
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