It has been said for many years! Playing basketball can really make you taller, but lifting weights can't make you taller?

Experts in this article:

Yiqin Chen, PhD student at Fujian Medical University

Wang Wenxiang, Associate Professor and Doctoral Supervisor, Fujian Medical University

This summer, the world's top sports feast - the Tokyo Olympics - allows us to fully experience the charm of competitive sports.

Was Chen Lijun handsome when he won the championship?

Swimmers, aren’t you beautiful?

Is Su Shen cool during the game?

When it comes to the Olympics, some "rumors" emerge in an endless stream:

Playing basketball helps you grow taller; weightlifting and squatting make you shorter; playing football makes your legs shorter; synchronized swimming causes your body to become deformed...

Have you believed for many years?

Is this really the case? Today we will get to know the truth.

What does a person's height depend on?

In fact, about 70-80% of a person's height is due to genes, and the remaining 20-30% depends on the living environment during the growth period.

Most current research results show that exercise does not significantly promote height growth, and exercise itself will not make people shorter.

The height of a person actually depends on the development of bones, more specifically the development of long bones. There is an epiphyseal plate at the end of a long bone. Under the action of growth hormone, the cartilage cells in the epiphyseal plate will continue to proliferate and gradually ossify, thereby lengthening the bone.

This process repeats itself, with the long bones becoming longer and longer and the height becoming taller and taller until the epiphyseal line closes and the long bones stop growing, and the person's height is basically fixed.

Does playing basketball help you grow taller?

Seeing that basketball players are all tall, do you think playing basketball makes you taller? That’s not true!

In fact, tall people have obvious advantages when playing basketball, so when coaches select players, they tend to choose tall people. And it is precisely because of the height advantage that tall people tend to play basketball. Ultimately, this creates the illusion that "playing basketball helps to grow taller."

Playing basketball involves a lot of running and jumping, which can enhance metabolism and promote bone development, which is helpful for teenagers to grow taller. However, simply playing basketball does not increase height much.

Will gymnastics and weightlifting make people shorter?

Some people believe that doing gymnastics and weightlifting will prevent people from growing taller. Is this true?

Competitive gymnastics requires athletes to be flexible and light as a swallow, so that they can complete some difficult flipping movements; and a smaller body will make the athlete's center of gravity lower and stand more steadily. Gymnastics coaches tend to choose short and slender children for training.

Gymnasts need to control their weight from an early age and have strict control over their diet. In this case, if individual nutrition cannot meet the needs of exercise consumption and growth and development, physical retardation may occur.

They have been undergoing high-intensity training since childhood, and excessive training too early may affect bone development and ultimately affect their height.

Many people also believe that weightlifters are short because lifting weights reduces their height. This statement has no scientific basis. A survey shows that 85% of weightlifters in my country are the tallest in their families.

Weightlifting requires overcoming gravity to lift an object above the head and maintain balance. Short people have a shorter vertical distance to lift a heavy object, and consume less energy; and people with shorter height and stronger body have a lower center of gravity, so they can stand more steadily after lifting a heavy object.

You can play football and synchronized swimming without worrying about it.

Football players need to be fast and agile, and those with short legs are better at controlling the ball, so football players are generally shorter than basketball players. It is not because of playing football that one has short legs.

In the same way, synchronized swimming will not cause body deformation. Only unbalanced weight bearing (such as carrying a backpack on one shoulder), excessive weight bearing or poor sitting posture can cause spinal deformation (such as scoliosis, hunchback, etc.).

What are the height standards for different age groups?

According to the "Evaluation of Height Development Levels for Children and Adolescents Aged 7 to 18" (WS/T 612-2018) issued by the National Health Commission of the People's Republic of China in 2018, height development levels can be divided into five levels:

Referring to the data in the table below, height <-2SD is lower class; height ≥-2SD and <-1SD is lower-middle class; height ≥-1SD and ≤+1SD is middle class; height >+1SD and ≤+2SD is upper-middle class; height >+2SD is upper class.

According to the above data, the normal range is if men's height is not less than 124.53, 143.33, 162.14 and 165.12 cm at the ages of 8, 12, 15 and 18, and if women's height is not less than 123.09, 145.26, 152.74 and 154.28 cm.

Why does the growth rate change?

The human body grows at different speeds at different growth stages, and even at the same stage, the speeds vary. Studies have shown that there are three golden periods for children's growth and development:

During infancy (birth to 3 years old), the child grows very fast and can grow 25 cm in the first year after birth.

During childhood (3 years old to puberty), children can grow 5 to 7 cm in height each year.

During puberty, boys can grow 25 to 28 cm in height, and girls can grow about 20 cm.

Therefore, when height growth suddenly accelerates or slows down, we should first consider whether we are in the transition stage of these three golden periods.

If your height suddenly slows down or even stagnates, you need to pay attention.

If a child shows obvious growth retardation, such as a continuous decline in height in the growth curve, or an annual growth of less than 6 cm during puberty, he should seek medical attention in time. Endocrine disorders, malnutrition, and some other chronic diseases can lead to growth retardation.

How can children of short parents fight back?

Genetics only determines the potential for height growth. Before the epiphyseal line closes, nutritional metabolism, exercise, sleep and other aspects can affect height.

The diet should be nutritionally balanced. The three meals should be a combination of meat and vegetables to provide children with sufficient energy, high-quality protein, and various vitamins and minerals. Appropriate calcium supplementation can promote physical development, but excessive calcium supplementation can also cause epiphyseal closure and lead to developmental delay.

Keep doing physical exercise. Before the epiphyseal line closes, proper and scientific physical exercise can enhance metabolism, promote blood circulation, and benefit bone development.

Regular work and rest. After the body enters deep sleep, the growth hormone required for growth and development is secreted vigorously. Teenagers should ensure 8 to 10 hours of sleep every day.

Keep a happy mood. Studies have shown that excessive mental stress can inhibit the secretion of growth hormone in the body, thus affecting growth and development. Therefore, parents should keep their children in a happy mood.

In summary

There are two main factors that determine height.

Genetic factors and acquired growth environment

Playing basketball and weightlifting have little effect on height

It is more important to choose a sport that suits you

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