Want to grow taller? Pay attention to your nutrition for height
increase.
Humans grow fastest during the first two to three years of life.
Then the height growth slows down through childhood until about
age 10 or 11.
At this point, girls accelerate in height to reach their maximum
by age 17 while boys shoot up a little later, reaching their
tallest by age 20. One of America's most famous tall people,
Wilt Chamberlain, hit a major growth spurt at age 15, when he
grew four inches in three months. By the time he started playing
college basketball he had reached a towering 7 feet 1 inch.
Growth beyond the age of 20 is rare. But interestingly, late
growth spurts are more likely to occur when poor nutrition has
inhibited growth earlier in life. In the malnourished
communities in South America, for example, people continued
growing throughout their 20s. But these people did not grow as
tall as most Americans, since they grew less during the more
critical years of childhood.
In modern times, being tall can help a person be more successful
- sexually and professionally. In the United States, anecdotal
evidence suggests that taller people appear more attractive and
so have an easier time finding sexual partners.