You probably look around and see that other girls in your group have suddenly grown taller, while you’re still like how you were two years back. Maybe the rest of your family is tall and you want to catch up with them.
The most important and uncontrollable factor which determines height is genes. After the genes, what determines your height are the controllable factors like proper food habits, regular sleep, exercising, etc.
By 16 a girl almost reaches the probable height she had to be blessed with, unless she wants to gear up and take some immediate measures towards improvement. There are some natural ways to grow taller in your mid-teens and they have all been listed below:
Consume a Balanced Diet
It is very important to have a balanced diet for maintaining a healthy body. Short girls tend to look plump and you need to eat right to solve both the issues!
- Consume lots of lean protein: These would include white poultry, fish, meat, diary, soy, etc. these improve muscle growth and help you have healthier bones. You must reduce consumption of pizzas, cakes, sodas, sweets, which have excessive carbohydrates.
- Increase the consumption of calcium: These are most found in dairy products and green veggies. Include veggies like kale and spinach along with milk or yogurt. Calcium promotes better bone health.
- Get adequate zinc content: Sources like oysters, pumpkin seeds, lamb, crab, peanuts, wheat germ, have good zinc content.
- Vitamin D is a vital nutrient for having a taller physique. It also promotes growth of muscles and bones. A lot of teen girls were surveyed to have deficiency in vitamin D which also matched with their short height. Fishes and mushrooms are a good source.
Exercise
Height improves when a girl continues to exercise after puberty and althrough her teen years. Exercises which include jumping, skipping, hanging, dancing, or almost anything which keeps you active enough to make your muscles workout for 30 minutes everyday, would promote a healthier height.
- Register in a gym if you don’t have any other way of exercising. You will suddenly have access to a lot of muscle-building machines which will improve your height. Gym also keeps you energized and helps you maintain a toned body.
- If you have a sports team in your high school, register in for that. Sport teams brew in a sense of competitiveness and help you burn those extra calories. You enjoy playing while you don’t realize that you are exercising and promoting a taller you!
- If you cannot do either of the two, simply skip at home or at a park. Jog around and do some spot-jumps. Rush through the stairs than opting for elevators and moreover walk for a distance than taking conveyances. Thus, simple and easy steps for exercising can help you promote height as well.
Sleep
Proper sleep is another factor to promote healthier height. You might know that sleeping is the time when your body develops, which is why having adequate sleep helps you have more time to grow.
- Teenagers are advised to have 8 to 11 hours of sleep and this should go right on till you are 20 years old.
- The human growth hormone or HGH produces in our bodies naturally. The production of HGH takes places in the pituitary glands. It develops best while we are sleeping, which is why sleeping is vital for having an improved height.
Get Rid of Bad Habits
There might be a lot of measures to take while wanting to get taller. But there are also many factors which can stunt your growth. There are no environmental circumstances which can stunt someone’s height, but there sure are some self-created circumstances which can lead to this condition.
Getting addicted stuff like drugs, alcohol or smoking can hinder growth and lead to other health hazards. Something as acute as malnutrition can also be a good enough reason for such a condition.
- Caffeine: it has been scientifically proven that caffeine has got nothing to do directly with one’s height. Caffeine consumption through soft drinks or coffee might let you have lesser hours of sleep, which can be an indirect hindrance to your height. You are advised to reduce caffeine consumption and concentrate on having a better diet
- Smoking: smoking directly or indirectly can stunt growth and bring in other health problems. A study in Columbia University proved that children who are prone to second hand smoking have a shorter height than the ones who aren’t. Try to talk about peer pressures to elders, if there are people in your school who force you to take up bad habits. Try to stay away from people while they smoke, as passive smoking is all the more harmful than inhaling it yourself.
- Steroids: The anabolic steroids are obtained into the bones once infused and they can lead to health hazards like decreased breast size, increased blood pressure and chances of heart attacks. Teens are not advised to take steroids even if they suffer asthma.
How to Look Taller Than You Are
Teen girls love to look into the mirror for every small thing that they do to them. From combing their hair to wearing new attires, mirrors are their best friends. ‘Have I stopped growing tall?’ is a common question you all might wonder from time to time.
Well till the time you are under 18, the answer is no. If you haven’t seen adequate growth within the past couple of years, you are advised to start off with the upper remedies to improve your height within the couples of years that follow.
Posture
Have a proper posture while walking or sitting. Do not hunch on your back from such a young age and try to keep your shoulder slightly back and spread them. Having a proper posture makes you look taller too.
Proper Dressing
Wear tighter clothes as baggy clothes make you look shorter. You look and feel good when you wear tighter clothes, though make sure you are comfortable enough to carry them.
Sometimes you want to look tall and you want to look slim. If you want both, you must choose some darker shades for your clothes. Colors like dark blue, red and black make you look tall and slim.
Clothes which have vertical stripes make you look taller. On the contrary, avoid horizontal stripes as they serve the opposite.
Heels
Try to enhance your height with proper high-heels. Avoid flip-flops which make you look short. Wearing wedges and platform heels helps you keep a better balance while walking.
Show Off Your Legs
If you have long legs, wear shorts and mini-skirts. Remember, that short heighted girls can carry off shorts much better than taller girls who would rather look better in 3/4th denims or Palazzos. Showing off your legs also makes you look taller.
Short is Sweet with Confidence
- Sweet sixteen is the age you should enjoy being short. This is because it adds to your cuteness and gives you ample amount of time to work on it. You still have 2-3 years to try out the remedies and make yourself get the desirable height.
- Other girls might make fun of you and you might have to stand at the front of your queue. On the other hand, boys find short girls more adorable than the taller ones. This is one aspect you can rejoice about.
- Try to love the uniqueness you have been blessed with. You are one of kind and God has created you to make you look different than the rest.
- Short girls are often not included for sports. Get into sports which interest you anyway, even if you don’t get into your school. Sports which make your stress and stretch are definitely going to stimulate your body and increase your height.
- Remember that the creative packages come in short height! Studies suggest that shorter people are more creative, so you should concentrate on things which develop you along with trying to develop your physical growth.
- The short that you can wear might not look good on girls with long legs. Shorter girls find it easy to carry off shorts than the taller ones.
- The dresses you choose are apt and of the perfect length for you. Tall girls often choose dresses and end up wearing something for the bottoms!
- Be happy that you have more people to look up to while others look down at you! It is so much cooler to romance a guy who looks down into your eyes.
Start off with the remedies and keep working on it till you get significant results. If they don’t workout, try and accept the natural blessing you have been given like each and every individual.
FAQs
You can try some simpler exercises like stretching thrice a day, swimming, skipping, or brisk walking. Practice yoga asanas such as tadasana. You can also join a gym to access muscle-building machines. Joining a sports team can help naturally burn some calories and grow tall. Eat a balanced diet and get enough sound sleep.
Indeed. Eggs are a rich source of proteins while milk contains vitamin D and calcium to support the growth of your bones and muscles.
Habits of smoking, not getting enough sleep, addiction to narcotics, excess consumption of caffeine, excessive stress, and lack of regular exercise regimen can negatively affect your growth during puberty.
You should get at least 8-10 hours of sound sleep every night. Your body naturally produces growth hormones during slow and deep sleep cycles. Therefore, sound sleep is essential to boost the production of growth hormones and increase height.
Try to maintain a correct upright posture, wear tighter dark-colored clothing with vertical stripes, wear heels to enhance your height, and never hesitate to show off your best features.
