Older Brother Stunts Your Growth
Scientists just think differently. Who woulda thunk to study how having older siblings affects height? This is from BBC Health.
Having an older sibling, particularly a brother, can stunt growth, work suggests.
Experts said the condition of the womb after the first pregnancy may be a factor.
The study of 14,000 families was presented at the BA Festival of Science.
The research, by David Lawson, of University College London, also showed children in larger families were likely to be shorter than average.
Researchers found that children with three siblings were 2.5cm or one inch shorter than the average height for their age.
If you are one of the younger ones, then you can expect to be shorter than your older siblings
Dr Lawson
It was suggested siblings may dilute resources – time, money or love – that parents are able to invest in children.
The researchers followed children born in the 1990s and who were enrolled on the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children, one of the largest public health studies to be set up in Britain.
Each year, the children’s height was recorded, along with other details of their development.
While having older siblings of either sex affected a younger child’s development, the effect of older sisters was more mild.
You can read the rest of the article HERE.
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thank god i’m the oldest then lol.
Me, too, EniGma, but my youngest sister is WAY taller than I am. So much for statistics – it can define a trend, but it can’t define individual realities.
interesting…
That study would have been scratched if they had studied my family. I’m the youngest of three males in the family, my elder brother is the shortest and I’m the tallest. I’m 183cm tall and people tell me it’s not normal. Hah! Envy. ;P
My poooooooor younger siblings >:)
That doesn’t explain why my younger brother is taller than I am!
Heeee heeee, Mac!
Chiki! You’re the tallest?
N. – Yeh, we’re the stat busters!
i’m around 8 or 9 cm taller than my sister, but only a few cms shorter than my brother 😛
If this is the case how come i am the oldest and have a height of 4’11.I am 1 yr older than my sister who is 5’9 and my younges brother who is 6’2.Now while growing up my parents were surprised to see i stopped growing when i was 13 that is when i reached my height now.I had to watch in horror as my sister who is a year younger just get taller and taller.Worst still was my youngest brother.I was checked out at the doctors and he did tests on me only to be told that my growth plates had closed.Which was abit early.So he couldnt do anything to help,this didnt bother me too much has my younger brother who was 3 yrs younger always looked out for me.The worse thing is that no-one ever believes i am the oldest out of all of us and my age.This being that i am now 30yrs old and always being asked my age so least that is quite an advantage with being short.Has we get older it is actually a good thing but wasnt too good growing up.I know i am about the height of my 10 yr old cousin at the moment and he looks like he is gonna be a strapping lad.I wouldnt mind if i got my height from my parents but they are both 5’9 and 6’0.I do have a couple of shortish people in my family there is my nan who is 5’2 and my uncle who is 5’5.The one i get on best of all is my uncle he also stopped growing at an early age he was about 15 yrs old.He is about 5’1 when we are together there isnt much difference in height even though i know that 2ins is 2ins so what are they trying to make me feel better or what.
So all i am saying is that maybe in some cases it is true in older siblings being taller than younger ones.I just think that kids nowadays are getting taller anyway especially to me anyway.
I am a woman 35 yrs old and my height is 4’10 i being the youngest out of my family.I do however have a older sister who is 2 yrs older.I apparently got my height from my grandmother who was also a rather short woman she was 4’10.I do also have an aunt who is 5’2.Now my sister is 5’8 she took after my mum who is 5’8 also my dad is 6’0.I feel alot of it is down to genetics not the older sibling being the tallest.So some of this is a load of rubbish genetics always comes into it.Some people say short parents short children.Only mine parents were tall so maybe short grandparents shorts grandchildren lol.
Cornflour, Paul, I agree, a lot is down to genetics. This is a statistical study; it tells trends, but does not describe individual situations.
Interestingly, Americans are NOT getting taller, other nationalities are out stripping us! It probably has to do with our lack of exercise.
It is mainly down to genetics it is as simple as that. I know that there may be the other occassions where something may be different.I mean that it can somtimes skip a generation.I am a guy i am now 20 years old and my height is 5’0.I have an older sister who is 22 and she is 5’6 and i also have a younger brother who is 17 and he is 5’9.Now no one sees me has being older than my brother Graham i am treated differently to him.My dad is 5’7 and my mum is 5’9.I think that due to my 2 grandmothers being pretty short is where i got my height has my mums mum is 5’3 and dad’s mum is 4’10.So for me being bang in the middle of my grandmothers isnt really ideal especially while being shorter than one of them still.I now have to contend with my cousin who is a girl and she is 13 years old with her being taller than me she is 5’3 and she is always pointing out this fact everytime i see her.All the rest of my immediate family are taller so there are only me and my grandmothers that are short.I have noticed though that my oldest grandmother who is 75 now she is not even 4’10 now has she seems about 4’8 i did ask her how comes she is shorter than before and she mentioned that after a certain age that we all start shrinking this has now got me thinking about in the future.I mean i could shrink in excess of 2 inches so maybe things can get worse.That is something to think about hey.
For me this is the case,i am 17 now and my height is only 4’10 i have always been shorter than most of the people around me.I have an older sister who is 20 and she is 5’6 plus there is my other older brother he is 25 and 5’8.Now i mean we arent giants but i never imagined that i would end up has short has this.People keep telling me that i still have time to grow but i just say that if i havent grown in the last 5 years what chance do i have now.Both my parenst are pretty average i suppose mum is 5’5 and dad is 5’9.I am the shortest out of all my family and also my cousins as well.I cannot blame anyone for being this short has there is no one.So i usually just say that my brother and sister ended up with the height gene and i got less.
The only good thing is looking younger that what i am but the thing is annoying when i have to keep showing proof when i am out.I remember being in a supermarket shop and i was looking at clothes now buying adults are obviously dearer and i end up chopping alot off.Or i can go for the juniors which are much better for me.Well i was caught looking in the juniors section and a teenager stood there watching me pull the trousers off the hangers and and check the length well he was with his girlfriend and they both stopped and watch me and then laugh.That was the first time this had happened i mean that surely i can shop where i want without people looking at me has if i was a freak.
I am only short it isnt the end of the world i am used to being the shortest in groups yes i do have to look up to the majority of people.I can handle it but others cant i hear guys say something has they walk past me and chuckle.Why keep picking on the short person it isnt right.I mean i have always had to struggle with name calling at school and people putting my school bag on the highest lockers.I admit that there arent other guys has short has me has my friends range between 5’6 and 6’2.I am lucky if i am eye level with some girls that are about 13 years old.I am definetly not eye level with woman even the short ones because i can tell straight away that that are short but they want to wear high heels well that is up to them but i would love to meet a short woman who accepts me for my height and personality.
Hello, Max. Hello Lee. I think these examples illustrate the problem with a statistical study – it can point out a trend, but it doesn’t mean that all families follow the same pattern. I am shorter than my parents, also shorter than my grandmothers, and I am the oldest. Go figure!
I cant say that having older brothers could lead to younger siblings being shorter.I am 20 now and my height is 5’0 i also have an older sister who is 24 and she is 5’6 plus a younger sister who is 16 she is 5’2.My problem seems to be that my sisters have dad’s height he is about 5’8 whereas i have gotten mum’s height has she is 5’2.I think it is strange how it happens but i suppose it is all to do with genetics rather than older siblings.Dont get me wrong i have struggled with my height only ever manageing to be equal to alot of girls at school while i was there.I dont blame anyone for the lack of height it can be very frustrating at work being teased by it.I have a silly nickname that i get called by but mainly because there is another guy called Simon.I dont think the height factor is relevant to me apart from being the shortest in my house and the only guy at work.I still get on with it though and i tell my sisters how lucky they are to be average height.I just say that i am accepting it and just dont dont let people get me down about it.It is hard when i try to talk to people at work has some guys are over 6’0 and it isnt nice looking in their chest every day just to talk.So all i like to say is that if height doesnt bother the person then it shouldnt bother people around them.
In my case it turned out the other way.I am 18 and my height is only 5’0 i take after my mum as she is exactly my height when she doesnt wear heels.I have a 16 year old brother called Peter he is 5’5 already and i feel he may get taller still.Lastly is my 12 year old sister Molly she is my height already and i am feeling very apprehensive about being the shortest out of all of us.I guess that Peter and Molly are taking after our dad i mean he is around 5’6.I used to get alot of put downs from my dad when he would mention my lack of height i would mainly just point out when there were taller people around than him.I mainly had a much better relationship with my mum has she understood what i was going through.Growing up and being the same height has the girls in school made me abit of an outcast with the boys some used to laugh about it.I would just like to say that i am in good company when i am with shorter people.I hate the always having to look up to speak to most of the people.I can however get good deals on my clothes in the junior sales so i cant moan that much.I cant really stand being this short i would have managed better if i was a couple of inches taller has i have too much hassle being short.Hopefully things will get better later on so i just have to deal with it.
I come from a fairly big family.
Our Mum is 5’2
Our Dad is 5’0
Me 22 yrs 4’10
Simon 20 5’0
Julie 19 5’1
Susan 17 5’2
Leanne 15 4’11.
I think that Leanne is still growing and she may get even taller than me.I never dreamed that i would be the oldest out of all of us and end up the shortest.I know that neither of us are giants but out of all of us.I think me and my dad seems to take alot of the stick from people.I realised years ago that maybe mum and dad werent has tall has the rest of the parents on parents evening.dad was somewhere on a par with alot of the kids at school.I always dreamed that i would grow taller.I tried everything but nothing worked.When Leanne brings her friends home from school they find it funny when they measure up to me and find that they are taller.Leanne has got them to stop doing so after i had a word with her.I have been turned down for many a job i think that maybe my height is stopping me.I have just taken up going to the gym to bulk me up abit.I still look like i am 10 yrs old and even some of them ar taller than me.I am glad that i have my grandmother who is similar in height to me and we get along just great.I hope my luck changes soon and that i can get on with my life and make it easier.
I believe this study has some truth.
I was born in September 1978. I’m 16 months younger than my brother, who is eldest. I was a normal weight as a baby, so was my brother.
His adult height is 188cm (6ft2), whilst my height is just 176cm (5ft9 1/2).
My mum was 5ft7, my dad was 5ft10. I’m expected to be at least 6ft looking at my parents height.
I know my ‘lack’ of size it’s not down to childhood diet because, if anything, I was the better nourished and by far the less fussy about food. I drank milk and ate meat, he didn’t – I had better protein intake. I suffer from depression, anxiety and also had a very late puberty and slow growth. My bones look very slight and stunted compared to other male family members. I don’t know what has caused this but the most logical reason could be exposure to anti male hormones early in my mothers pregnancy with me has caused me to be physically smaller than what was expected. I read that women do produce anti-male hormones soon after giving birth to a boy, and this ‘concoction’ stays in the body for up to a year.