How to Get Taller at 12: What Can You Do for a Healthy Spurt?

Many parents look online to find the answer to how to get taller at 12. If you are also in search of a solution or a possible way to increase your little one’s height, come along, and we will provide you with a detailed answer with some practical ways to increase height.

First, let’s be clear there is no magic pill that will increase your height in a week or two. However, still, some factors can maintain your height growth. The growth spurt is the time when a child starts to face physical changes like an increase in weight and height.

Boys begin to grow faster at the age of 10 to 15, while girls face a growth spurt from 8 to 13. On average, both girls and boys grow their height till they hit puberty. However, it is significantly challenging to increase the height after they reach their 21st birthday.

Keep reading to find out if they can increase height; if yes, then some ways to grow height.

Is Increasing the Height Realistic at 12?

To be honest, only a few factors affected the height at the age of 12, and those factors can only be the reason in 20% of the cases, and the other 80% rely on the child’s genetics. Some boys grow their full height at the age of 17 and then stop. However, some continue their growth till 21. On average, they grow around 3 inches every year while they are in puberty.

But according to research, there are some children who keep growing their height as they include rich fat and protein in their diet.

It is an unrealistic assumption if you think you can increase the height in a week or a month. You can try increasing height for a long time, but it is difficult. You can do something like having sufficient sleep hours, a nutritious diet, and some exercise. Still, these approaches do not guarantee that you will increase your height. Some methods, however, work realistically, like improvement in body posture and strengthening core muscles.

The average when girls attain puberty is 10 and 14, while for boys, it is 12 and 16. It is a golden time if you want to focus on improving your height because as children reach puberty, they start to feel rapid growth in their body, from height to weight. As we can see, there is some difference between the time when puberty hits boys and girls.

There is about a two-year difference when the growth spurt hits boys. However, according to research, boys stop gaining significant boosts in height at 16 but still continue to gain body muscles.

Consequently, girls and boys can follow some methods to keep their height rapidly growing. Genetics have a major influence on height. It is believed that Taller parents will have taller children and vice versa.

Natural Ways to Increase Height

Some natural ways can be the answer for; how to get taller at 12. These methods are natural ways to increase your height after puberty hits. Let’s find the methods without beating around the bush.

1. Exercise

As much as we put pressure on our bodies, for example, pulling weights and sweating in the playground, we make our bodies adapt to challenging situations and provide strength to our bones. There are certain exercises like stretching, hanging, and swimming that can increase the height of children. However, a proper diet is also essential. It is also important to know that there is no scientific evidence that this can work in adults as well.

2.Up to 8 Hours of Sleep

There is research that provides convincing evidence that improper diet can decrease growth because it negatively influences our metabolism. It becomes important for children to have a proper diet as they hit the growth spurt because it is the time when they will start to gain height dramatically. In today’s age of the internet, decreasing your kids’ screen times should be a priority if you want them to grow in height consistently. Not only does the lack of proper sleep affect our physical growth, but it also decreases mental growth.

3. Improve Body Posture

This is an excellent idea to increase your height at the age of 12. However, it is not easy to increase height after you reach 20, but this can improve your body strength. If you want to improve your body posture, you need to let down the habit of slouching and practice correct posture. This will give you a sense that you are taller and stronger.

4. Balanced Diet for Holistic Growth

The kid can reach their maximum height if their parents ensure that they eat a proper nutritious diet daily. A balanced diet consists of sufficient quantities of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and vitamins. Children should add peanuts and squash seeds to their diet because they are a nice source of zinc, which is found to have a significant impact on children’s height growth.

5. Plenty of Water

Drinking up to 9 glasses of water daily can boost your body. First, it will remove unhealthy toxins from your body and provide your organs with stability so they can function properly. A study has found that dehydration is a harmful agent that can affect children’s physical and cognitive development. So it is crucial to keep your water intake sufficient regularly.

6. Vitamin D

Another public study found that children with vitamin D sufficiency can slow their height growth. Just like zinc deficiency can have any effect on the child’s growth, so does vitamin D. If a child does not spend 10 to 15 minutes in the sun, he or she will face vitamin D deficiency. Consequently, the child will not be stronger from the inside and will not be able to attain the height he or she desires.

Activities to Increase Height

Now we will dive deep into the activity’s role in the growth of a child and how to get taller at 12 with the help of specific activities. It should be noted that if a child is taking part in some activities that require significant strength, the child will need more diet to maintain height growth.

1. Stretching

The growth spurt is a crucial time in every child‘s life; during this time, even a few stretching exercises can significantly impact their height. Parents should engage with their kids and motivate them to take part in yoga or exercises so that it becomes their routine. Stretching exercises will elongate their spine and better their posture.

In the first exercise, parents should make their child stretch their legs as much as possible. Children are flexible. However, you should make sure they’re doing it appropriately. Then ask them to bend their waist and touch their toes a couple of times. This will elongate the core and improve their posture.

There is another stretching exercise that can be beneficial for improving height. The child will stand against the wall with his or her back toward it. Make them raise and stretch their hands up as much as they can. Now ask them to sit with their back against the wall (like there is an invisible chair) and ask the child to touch the ground only with only their toes and not let the heels touch the ground. In the final step, the child will stretch the muscles of his or her legs. This will ensure the child is going to have a proper posture and will not be injured while he or she engages in the game.

2. Hanging

It is one of the most beneficial activities for improving height. It has been recommended for many years and is believed to provide excellent height improvement benefits. As a parent, you can encourage them to hang from bars, which will also help elongate the spine and eventually make the child taller. Do not make them overdo the hanging exercises.

You should let them gain their strength first and then encourage them to do strenuous, hanging exercises like chin-ups and pull-ups. These exercises will improve their height and will make their arms and core stronger at the same time. Once they have made their muscles stronger, ensure the child is practicing for at least 10 minutes every day. These two exercises are a must to add to their daily routine.

3. Cycling

Cycling is also considered an excellent way to increase height. It stretches your calf muscles and provides you with the strength to gain extra inches of height and strong bones. It is believed that in up to 4 months, you can increase by 1 cm of a height because the bones take a certain period to adapt to changes. Ask the child to stretch their legs as much as they can as the paddle so that they extend their leg muscles which can help in growing the height.

4. Skipping

Skipping is one of the easiest and most fun exercises to increase height. Kids feel more joyous when they So skipping. It is a fun cardio exercise that puts your heart and body to work and increases your height. When the child jumps to skip the rope, he stretches his body and thus receives a boost in height. It is the best activity to keep your little ones active. This exercise improves your joint strength and also makes your toes stronger. However, it is best if you pick a rope that comes with adjustable straps to make it comfortable and more enjoyable for your child.

5. Swimming

Swimming requires significant strength if you are just starting. It is a lifesaver skill as well as a height booster exercise that you must teach your child. It improves body functioning, and when you swim, your body will be stretched, making your core stronger and promoting good height. It is also believed that swimming improves your posture and mobility and reduces the risk of muscle injury if you do it appropriately.

Factors that Can Affect Height Growth

Some factors significantly affect height growth; now, we will look at those in detail. These factors are crucial if you want to have a good height.

1. Genetics

As mentioned earlier, genetics play a vital role in determining a child’s height. The height growth of your kid will be significantly impacted by the genes of his or her parents. Just like other traits, such as facial features and disorders, are passed through generations, so does height. For example, if your parents have green eyes, you will also inherit this trait. The fact that all animals and plants have genes, we all carry forward the good and bad of our ancestors. Consequently, you will achieve a good height if you are parents or taller.

2. Improper Diet

The next factor that causes lower growth of a child’s body and height is improper diet. If your child does not have a proper diet and nutrition, he will not grow properly. Parents need to check their children’s diet and ensure that they are getting proper nutrition. The diet must have vitamin D and zinc, as mentioned earlier.

3. Hormones

There is scientific research that suggests hormones are also a factor that affects height growth. Height growth is negatively affected by the growth hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland. At the same time, other hormones that can affect a child’s growth are thyroid hormone and estrogen. These reasons are based on research. However, another research suggests taking tiny doses of growth hormone can significantly increase the child’s height.

4. Foods to Avoid

Not only do economically challenged families have children of small height because they cannot have proper nutrition, but this problem is also found in developed countries because of poor diet habits. So it becomes critical to know the foods your child should avoid during a growth spurt.

5. Junk Food

Junk food causes obesity. Suppose the child is not doing some activity after having some type of junk food. He will grow fat. This problem of obesity will then make the child face some challenging situations like diabetes and slow skeletal growth. If the child is eating processed food in considerable quantity, he will encounter an impact on bone growth and will not be able to reach his maximum height. Consequently, parents should check their child’s food habits and inspire them to eat healthy.

6. Foods with Excessive Sugar

According to research, excessive sugar intake can reduce growth hormone secretion in the body. Consequently, processed foods and drinks that have excessive sugars and other things like candies and sweets will affect your child’s height and growth negatively because they will hinder your body‘s capacity to release good hormones. Again, a healthy diet and fruits can significantly impact a child‘s height.

Conclusion

We have learned how to get taller at 12 and maintain a healthy growth spurt. Moreover, it is not impossible to increase height at the age of 12 for both boys and girls.

Increasing height in a week is not possible, but if a child eats properly, sleeps for eight hours, lets their body regain power, and exercises regularly, they can have good height growth.

The body is grown at a certain pace, and if you focus on your child‘s nutrition and inspire him or her to exercise regularly during their growth spurt, the child will grow the height to the maximum.

A combination of activities like stretching, hanging, cycling, skipping, swimming, and a proper diet that includes zinc, vitamin D, and other minerals will ensure your kid’s proper height growth.

Finally, restrict their sugar and fast food intake while inspiring them to eat and drink healthy foods.