How important is sleep for growth in height?

You nust have at least four hours of deep sleep before your body releases HGH (human Growth Hormone) so more sleep is better.

First of all 6 or 7 hours for the majority of teens is not close to enough sleep. There are some people who seem to need less than average, but teens need a lot. Sleep not only helps with growth, but also with health in general. Fighting off colds, neural activity, memory, stress levels, weight, sleep is very very important. If you get by on 6 or 7, but then are spending maybe one day a week sleeping 10 or 12 or falling asleep for a nap, that is your body catching up. Although you did not mention that is happening.

Good enough, is not good enough in my opinion. You need to feel well rested. You are in your last years of growing, if you are still growing, so if you want to make the best of it, get your rest. My husband, I swear, grew a little when he was in his early 20’s.

Also, good posture can make a taller. When I went back to dance class as an adult, my clothes became too short, I measured a quarter inch taller in my 30’s. It’s not really growth, not bone growth, when someone is that old, but I believe it is something with the spine and muscles that legnthens.

At age 19, I think your growing days are over. Not impossible, but most females have their full height at 16 or so. I quit growing at 14. The most important thing for all-over health is a good, balanced diet, staying active and getting ample sleep. Hopefully you did that when you were younger. Your body is already genetically engineered to be the height that you will be. Only significant abuse could change that.

Is @jabag11 a girl? I figured if upset with the height of 5’8” and wanting to grow taller @jabag11 was male?

Oh, whoops! My bad. In that case, @jabag11 , you could still get some more height. I thought maybe it was just a girl that wanted to be a model or something. Ha-ha!

All growth takes place while we sleep. This is true for people, plants and animals.
When an infant, child, teen, is undergoing a growth spurt sleep requirements increase.

Young children and teens often sleep 10–12 hours during these phases.

At 19 you may still grow some, get your rest kiddo!

@Coloma I am sure you got that information from a reliable source and I don’t doubt it – but I still think each individual is already predisposed genetically to reach a certain height, and all the sleep in the world isn’t going to make them taller than that. Some things you put your body through could possibly stunt your growth and you could not attain your potential height, but it would have to be fairly severe abuse.

i am definitely MALE =D

@Skaggfacemutt

I agree, but, growth does occur during the night, regardless of genetics.
Have you ever noticed a squash or pumpkin seedling that doubles in size overnight?

Since you’re 19, you’re not likely to grow much more. You could maaaaaaybe get another inch before your growth plates are totally closed. But you should still consider getting an extra hour or two of sleep, just for your overall health.

Yes, I understand what you are saying about growing during sleep, @Coloma , I’m just saying that the amount of sleep you get is not directly proportunate to how tall you will grow. In other words, if I sleep 8 hours per night every night of my life and am 5’ 3” tall, I don’t believe for an instant that if I had slept 10 hours a night instead, that I would be 5’6” tall.

How tall are your parents? That probably has a lot to do with it, although there are many people out there that prefer your height.

We are genetically programmed for height, like eye color, or hair color.

@faye Genetically yes, but there is a range, and depending on our environment we reach the bottom or the top of our range (not including very very extreme mal nutrition).

Our maximum height is more or less genetically determined. Whether or not we reach it is determined in part by sleep, nutrition, and exercise. If you want to be tall, be healthy.