At some point in every single persons life they stop growing. But what determines when we stop growing and how much we grow?

A big part of what makes up how much we grow is our genes. We get our genes from our parents when we are conceived. So if you have tall parents there is a higher chance of you being tall. This also matches up for issues like obesity and medical conditions like high blood pressure.

Personally my dad is six foot six inches tall, so you would expect me to be well over six feet tall. But due to the fact that my mom is only five foot four inches tall I stand 5 feet eleven inches tall. That is because my genes are a mix of both my mother and fathers and since my dad is very tall and mom average height I end up just above average.

We stop growing when our genes have completed their job, which is to get each person to be able to reproduce. That is why once we go through puberty and have achieved the power to reproduce we stop growing. Our genes also control when we go through puberty. So once again our life path is dictated by our parents. During puberty the key hormones is thyroxin, androgens and estrogen. These hormones are found in the pituitary, thyroid and reproductive glands. The amount of these hormones can also affect how much we grow.

There are problems that can arise in the endocrine system. Gigantism is an issue that arises that causes someones arms and legs to grow rapidly. The outcome of this disorder causes the children to end up becoming as tall as 8 feet once they go through puberty.

Our genes and family history is the reason why some people grow to be very tall and why some other people end up being short. Scientist still have a hard time finding out how the genes work in detail.

Works Cited:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/3076703/t/why-do-we-stop-growing/#.VD2QfSldVwQ