What Determines a Person’s Height? The Truth About Growth Hormone

October 28, 2025

3 min read

Why are some people tall, and others are not? Can this be influenced? Besides heredity, what determines our growth? The answer to all these questions is the same — growth hormone.

Key takeaways

Why are some people tall, and others are not?
What is the cause for concern?
How are excess and deficient growth hormones treated?

Who this is for

People exploring Pediatrics through hormones, height.

Why it matters

This piece helps you get oriented quickly, then move into a collection or series if you want to keep going.

Article author

Dr. Julia

Endocrinologist

Growth hormone, somatotropin, and STH are synonyms for the same substance that affects human growth and development. The maximum amount of growth hormone is produced at 4–6 months of the prenatal period of a child's life. After the birth of a baby, the level of STH in the blood remains high until the onset of sexual development and begins to decline after 20–25 years. It is thanks to somatotropin that children's bones grow in length, and muscles accumulate protein.

Therefore, doctors are strongly against a vegan diet for babies. This is due not only to growth but also to overall physical development. The level of growth hormone increases as the child grows up, and its concentration peaks during puberty.

The growth of a child depends not only on the hereditary factor — the growth of the father and mother — but also on hormonal levels. The earlier puberty begins, the faster the child stops growing since the growth points of the tubular bones are closed. In rare cases, growth stops at rates well below normal, in which doctors talk about dwarfism. With late development, the child can exceed normal growth rates up to gigantism, which is often accompanied by a weak sexual constitution.

What is the cause for concern?

The production of growth hormone is caused by genetic factors, and any failure in its production is a genetic mutation that cannot be predicted or prevented.

Due to somatotropic insufficiency, dwarfism develops in children. Such children are born with normal body weight and limb length. Dwarfism manifests itself by 3–4 years of age, and before the child grows normally. The problem is that the baby receives prolactin with breast milk. This is another pituitary hormone that is structurally similar to GH. In early childhood, prolactin acts as a growth hormone. But as soon as breastfeeding is stopped, STH deficiency will occur.

The reason for concern should be the slowdown in the growth of the baby at 3–4 years old when growth should normally increase by 7–8 cm per year.

When growth hormone levels rise, bones and muscles grow very quickly. Sometimes a child not only surpasses his peers in growth but becomes much taller than everyone else. In this case, the proportions of the limbs, trunk, and head are not affected.

How are excess and deficient growth hormones treated?

If too much growth hormone is secreted in the body, doctors usually perform surgery and remove the tumor that caused the gigantism. If the test shows that the pituitary gland is responding to stimuli, medications may be prescribed to normalize the level of STH in the blood.

If a child has a suspicion of growth hormone deficiency, he or she will be sent for a consultation with a pediatric endocrinologist. A test of growth hormone in the blood and urine, X-ray, or MRI examination is required. These methods allow the doctor to reliably confirm or deny the diagnosis.

To date, the only effective treatment for this disease is the introduction of synthetic analogs of growth hormone in the form of continuous injections.

Why do adults need growth hormone?

Traditionally it has been believed that the level of growth hormone in adults is not important. However, growth hormone in adults regulates metabolism, affects mental health, accelerates wound healing, and counteracts aging.

Growth hormone deficiency in adults leads to obesity, with fat mainly accumulating in the waist area. Growth hormone also increases the level of endorphins, which are pleasure hormones that stimulate the central nervous system. With a deficiency of growth hormone, weakness, fatigue, anxiety, depression, and loss of control over emotions can occur. If you observe all these symptoms in yourself, it is worth taking an appropriate test.

Treatment with somatotropic hormone mixtures for people suffering from its deficiency should be carried out for life. However, growth hormone injections will not help an adult. After reaching a genetically programmed length, bones no longer grow.

Continue reading

Pediatrics#hemoglobin

Blood Transfusion for Premature Babies: A New Perspective

The largest randomized clinical trial on blood transfusion to premature babies was completed by Dr. Haresh Kirpalani of the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Edward Bell of the University of Iowa, and colleagues from the Neonatal Research Network, including Dr. Rosemary Higgins of the George Mason University College of Health and Human Services. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine. To date, this is the most ambitious research in the world that examines blood transfusion in premature babies.

DaryaOct 28, 2025

Pediatrics#children

How to Train the Vestibular Apparatus in Children

How do you know if your child has a weak vestibular apparatus? It could be that they get sick when traveling, easily lose coordination and balance, especially on uneven surfaces, or have a fear of falling. Or they could be afraid of taking the elevator and cycling. If this sounds familiar, how can you help your child?

Dr. TatjanaOct 28, 2025

Diabetes#sugar

7 Good Reasons to Check Blood Sugar Levels

Diabetes mellitus can appear at any age. To avoid missing the beginning of the disease, you should regularly check your blood glucose levels. This is especially true if you are over the age of 45, are overweight, or have noticed several of the symptoms listed below.

Dr. JuliaOct 28, 2025

Women's health#women health

The Pros and Cons of the IUD

The IUD is known as one of the most reliable means of contraception, but many women are still not convinced of its effectiveness and may even fear it. Let's take a look at its pros and cons.

Dr. HeleneOct 28, 2025

Install Ornament to not only read these articles, but also track your health, store test results, and access other useful features

Install Ornament