• Question: why are some people so small

    Asked by yo_momma to Andy, Dwaine, Natt, Priya, Tatiana on 17 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Natt Day

      Natt Day answered on 17 Jun 2015:

      Hi Freya,

      The reason some people are so small is because gravity is keeping us down 😉 (I say us as I only clock in at 5ft3 myself!)

      In all seriousness, there can be a few causes of people being small. The first cause is genetic: we inherit a range of height determining genes from our parents which has an effect on whether we end up tall or short. The second cause is environmental: although we have height determining genes, whether we reach this height can be effected by what we eat, how much we sleep and it’s also believed that childhood illnesses and pollution can also have an impact. The third cause is our hormones: growth hormones (most importantly), thyroid hormones and sex hormones.

      All three of these factors all play a role in what height we end up and why some people are shorter than others

      Natt

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