Do Girls Stop Growing at 18?

Human development is a remarkable journey that begins with a single cell and ends with a fully grown adult human. While many aspects of development are the same in both girls and boys, there are also important differences.

Types

• Many different kinds of growth occur during human development: growth in height, weight, brain size or maturation of the reproductive system, for example. Not all types of growth coincide or occur at the same rate at the same time during development. Growth in brain size is most rapid between 0 and 10 years of age, for example, while maturation of the reproductive system occurs during puberty and adolescence.

Function

• According to a 1996 article in the American Journal of Human Biology, girls reach their full height by age 18 to 19, whereas boys may continue to grow taller for a couple more years thereafter. Since both girls and boys have already passed through puberty, girls have also attained reproductive maturity by this age.

Considerations

• While girls grow little (if at all) in terms of physical growth beyond the age of 18 to 19, the brain may continue to develop and mature into early adulthood. As noted in a 1998 study in the American Journal of Psychiatry, even though the size of the brain is no longer changing, brain development continues through adolescence into adulthood, and this is true for both girls and boys.