When is growth spurt for boys

Boys grow fastest during puberty. For many guys, their biggest growth spurt will be between the ages of 12 to Puberty can last two to five years. Growth charts show that majority of guys grow just a little after the ages of In rare cases, some people may hit puberty in their late teens and continue to grow into their early twenties.

The reason most guys stop growing at this age is because their growth plates fuse shortly after puberty. Growth plates are layers of cartilage found near either end of long bones of children and adolescents. Your height is largely determined by your genetics. The other 20 percent is influenced by external factors. Besides your genetics, nutrition has the biggest influence on your height. Protein deficiency is the common nutrient deficiency that limits height.

Mineral, vitamin D, and vitamin A deficiencies also impact growth. Both these hormones are essential for the proper development of bones. Not getting adequate sleep is thought to stunt growth, although more research is needed to fully understand the role of sleep on height development. Some stimulant medications used to treat attention deficit disorder may cause delays in growth.

Events in girls as they go through puberty:. Once girls get their periods, they usually grow about 1 or 2 more inches 2. Most boys show the first physical changes of puberty between ages 10 and 16, and tend to grow most quickly between ages 12 and The growth spurt of boys is, on average, about 2 years later than that of girls.

By age 16, most boys have stopped growing, but their muscles will continue to develop. Despite data collected for growth charts, "normal" heights and weights are difficult to define. Shorter parents, for instance, tend to have shorter kids, whereas taller parents tend to have taller kids. You may worry if your child isn't as tall as other kids that age.

Girls also experience puberty as a series of events. But their puberty changes often begin before boys of the same age. Each girl is different and may go through these changes differently. These are average ages when puberty changes may happen:. Both boys and girls go through certain stages of development when developing secondary sex characteristics. These are the physical characteristics of males and females that are not involved in reproduction. These include voice changes, body shape, pubic hair distribution, and facial hair.

Here's a quick look at the changes that happen:. In boys, the first puberty change is the enlargement of the scrotum and testes. At this point, the penis does not enlarge. Then, as the testes and scrotum continue to enlarge, the penis gets longer.

Next, the penis will continue to grow in both size and length. In girls, the first puberty change is the development of breast buds. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Stature-for-age and weight-for-age percentiles. Johns Hopkins Medicine. The growing child: 3-year-olds. Nemours Foundation. Growing pains. Join now to personalize. Photo credit: iStock. How children grow Responding to growth spurts. Remember when your child was a baby and you swore she grew overnight?

Among the signs of a growth spurt in progress: Your child may seem hungrier than usual or eat more at a sitting. Your child may nap longer than usual or sleep longer at night. Child Growth Chart Calculator. Create a growth chart to see how your child measures up against other children in height, weight, and head size.

Sources BabyCenter's editorial team is committed to providing the most helpful and trustworthy pregnancy and parenting information in the world. Featured video. Growth charts: Taking the measurements ages 5 to 8.