During your teen years your body is changing a lot and growing too! It won’t have seen such a rapid growth spurt since you were a baby! Perhaps you’ve noticed that you have grown taller than your friends over the summer break and feel a little self-conscious about this.

You might be wondering how long this growth spurt will go on for…or if it will ever start! The fact is that there is no right or wrong age for growth to occur during puberty and we have some facts that may help you feel more confident about the changes occurring to you.

• The average age for growth to start in girls is 11-12, but like periods some will notice these changes earlier or later; between the ages of 7–14.
• For most girls growth will start a year or so after puberty starts, so for girls generally after breasts have started to develop.
• During the fasted growth spurt you can increase in height by up to 8cms a year.
• Once puberty has arrived this may decrease to around 7cms a year.
• And once your period has arrived you can expect another couple of years of growth to be experienced but at a slower rate.
• Hands and feet are most likely the first things to grow, so it’s no wonder your shoe size changes during your teen years.
• Next will be the arms and legs.
• Finally the spine grows longer and for girls there will be widening of the hips and the pelvis.
• No one knows what causes aches and pains to the legs, arms and thighs during puberty. But many believe it is not your bones growing that causes this discomfort, but instead your muscles tiring as you become more active in your teen years and increased exertion is required to manage this new growth.
• These aches and pains are not a sign that you are unwell or need time away from school and gentle stretching on a daily basis should help.

You may be wondering how tall you will be in the future and whilst it is true that height is genetic, this does not mean you will be exactly the same height as your family members, there really is no way to know for sure how tall you will eventually be and no one is an exact copy of their parents.

BUT family genes are not the only thing that decide your final height, eating a healthy diet, getting plenty of sleep and lots of exercise will help you grow to your full potential too!

Finally, don't be anxious if you seem to have grown a lot in a very short space of time or feel awkward around friends or boys, it’s a fact that girls experience their growth spurts before boys do, but once growth starts for them they often grow taller than us females.