Yoga for height: can it make you taller, what decides your height, and what yoga can change

Your genes set most of it

In twin studies, genes explained most of the differences in height between teenagers. Nutrition and health while you grow matter too, which is why average height rose by up to 20 cm in a century in some countries.

Sources 1, 2, 3

Bones stop lengthening when the growth plates close

That happens during adolescence, earlier in girls than boys. After that, no pose, stretch or hanging routine can lengthen your bones.

Sources 4, 5

No trial has tested yoga for height

In children, skipping programmes didn't change height in 15 trials, and reviews find that sport and exercise don't change how tall children grow.

Sources 6, 7, 8

Stretching gains don't last

You're about 2 cm taller first thing in the morning, because the discs in your spine take up water overnight, and most of that goes within hours of getting up. Hanging or going upside down does the same, for a short while.

Sources 9, 10

Standing tall shows the height you have

Back-strengthening yoga can help you stand and sit tall. In the one yoga trial that measured height, in adults over 60 with a rounded upper back, height changed by about 3 mm, not a real difference.

Source 11

Worried about a child's growth? See a GP

The NHS (National Health Service) says to see a GP if "your child is not growing as expected for their age". A GP can plot their height on the UK growth charts and look for a cause.

Sources 2, 12

GenesStrong evidence

Across 45 twin cohorts from 20 countries, the share of height differences explained by genes rose through childhood to a peak in adolescence: up to 0.83 in boys and 0.76 in girls. Common gene variants in more than 12,000 places in the genome explain about 40% of height differences in people of European ancestry, and less so far in other ancestries. The NHS says short stature is usually genetic, and "can just be because your parents are short themselves".

Sources 1, 13, 2

Your parents' heights are a guideStrong evidence

The UK growth charts work out a centile from both parents' heights. Nine in ten children's height centiles sit within two centile spaces of it, and 4 in 5 children reach an adult height within about 7 cm either side of the matching target height. A prediction from a child's own height curve is usually closer: within about 6 cm for 4 in 5 children.

Sources 12, 14

Nutrition and health while you growStrong evidence

Across 18.6 million people born between 1896 and 1996, average adult height rose by 20.2 cm in South Korean women and 16.5 cm in Iranian men, far too fast for genes to explain. The researchers point to growth before birth, and nutrition and infections in childhood and the teenage years. In 2019, 19-year-olds in the tallest and shortest countries differed by 20 cm or more on average. The World Health Organization (WHO) says low height for age (stunting) comes from long-term undernutrition, poor maternal health and frequent illness.

Sources 3, 15, 16

Conditions that affect growth

The NHS lists growth hormone deficiency, genetic conditions such as Turner and Noonan syndromes, and problems with bone development such as achondroplasia among the causes of restricted growth, and conditions such as coeliac disease or an eating disorder among the causes of delayed puberty. A GP can check for these. The main treatment for restricted growth is growth hormone medicine, prescribed by specialists for children who aren't growing as expected; surgery to lengthen the arms or legs is rare.

Sources 2, 17

Bones grow at the growth plates

Long bones, such as the thigh and shin bones, grow longer at growth plates near each end. Once growth is complete, sometime during adolescence, "the growth plates close and are replaced by solid bone". Girls' bones finish growing sooner than boys'.

Source 4

What one X-ray study foundEmerging evidence

In one US X-ray study of ankle growth plates in 570 young people, complete fusion started from age 12 in girls and 14 in boys, and every girl had fused by 16 and every boy by 19. We found no sourced ages for the knee and hip growth plates, so treat these as a guide: the plain message is that height stops increasing once the plates close, whatever your age on paper.

Source 5

Puberty and the growth spurt

The NHS says it's normal for puberty to start any time between 8 and 14. The UK growth charts flag puberty before 8 in girls or 9 in boys, or no signs by 13 in girls or 14 in boys, for a check. If it matters, a doctor can estimate how much growing is left from a wrist X-ray.

Sources 17, 12, 14

Yoga and height: no trialsMixed evidence

We searched for studies of yoga and height in children and teenagers and found 21 records, but no trial that tested whether yoga changes how tall anyone grows. Claims that particular poses add height aren't based on studies.

Source 6

Skipping didn't change heightEmerging evidence

Fifteen trials compared skipping programmes with ordinary physical education (PE) lessons in 1,048 children aged 10 to 12. Skipping improved fitness, but its effect on height and weight was not significant.

Source 7

Sport and exercise don't change how tall children growEmerging evidence

A 2019 review of studies from 1990 to 2018 found no evidence that exercise or sport, including basketball and gymnastics, changed children's growth in height, though exercise helped bones and muscles. An expert panel for the International Gymnastics Federation concluded that adult height "is not compromised by intensive gymnastics training": gymnasts tend to be short because the sport suits, and keeps, children who are shorter and mature later. Most of the studies behind both were observational.

Sources 8, 18

Strength training doesn't stunt growthStrong evidence

In a review of 22 studies of supervised weight training in children before or early in puberty, training made them stronger and "did not influence growth in height and weight", and injuries were rare. Our exercise for children guide says the same.

Source 19

Two studies reported a little more growth with exerciseMixed evidence

In 36 Thai children aged 11 to 12, the 18 who volunteered for a 24-week school activity programme grew 4.6 cm, against 3.3 cm in those who didn't (1.3 cm more). The children weren't allocated at random and puberty wasn't measured, and the authors call it preliminary evidence, not proof of cause. In a Chinese study of 62 children, 15 short children who did 24 weeks of jumping exercise grew more than short children who didn't, again without random allocation.

Sources 20, 21

Girls training for yoga competitionsMixed evidence

One study measured 757 Indian girls aged 4 to 15: 380 training for yoga competitions three times a week and 377 doing other games. The yoga girls were taller up to age 8 and a little shorter at 10 to 12. The authors suggest that intense yoga practice, with its stress on growing bones, may have held back growth at that age. The study took one measurement of each girl, so it can't show cause, and both groups were undernourished by Indian standards. Our reading: as with gymnastics, shorter, more flexible girls may be the ones who choose competitive yoga. Ordinary yoga hasn't been shown to change growth either way.

Sources 22, 18

You're taller in the morningEmerging evidence

The discs between your vertebrae lose fluid under load during the day and take it back up when you lie down. In 8 men measured nine times over 24 hours, height was greatest on waking and least at midnight, a difference of 19.3 mm. More than half of the day's loss happened in the first hour after getting up, and 80% within 3 hours. Two more small studies found the same pattern.

Sources 9, 23, 24

Hanging and going upside downEmerging evidence

In 20 men, a minute tipped upside down on a tilt table made the spine measurably longer and relaxed the low back muscles. Astronauts' spines lengthen in space, where nothing presses down on them. Both are the morning effect in another form: once you're upright again, your spine settles back (our reading of these studies).

Sources 10, 25, 9

Posture and measured heightEmerging evidence

Slumping hides some of your height and standing tall shows all of it. In 118 adults aged 60 and over with a rounded upper back, an hour of yoga 3 times a week for 6 months reduced two of three measures of the curve. Standing height, one of the trial's main measures, rose by about 3 mm against less than 1 mm with health talks, which wasn't a significant difference.

Source 11

One part of an active weekStrong evidence

The NHS asks children and young people to aim for an average of at least 60 minutes of moderate or vigorous activity a day across the week, with a variety of activities to develop movement skills, muscles and bones. Yoga fits as strength, balance and calm; running, jumping and play do more for bones, as our yoga for kids guide says.

Source 26

Keep it safe

People new to yoga are advised to avoid headstands, shoulder stands, the lotus position and forceful breathing. For children, leave out anything that puts weight on the head or neck, use a normal room temperature, and don't let them push into pain (our yoga for kids guide).

Source 27

Height and how you feel about it

Your height isn't a measure of your health or worth, and pages that promise inches in a week are selling something that doesn't exist. If worry about height is taking over, or a young person is cutting back food or over-exercising to change their body, talk to a GP (our suggestion).

Some height loss is normalStrong evidence

In 2,084 adults followed for years, height loss began at about 30 and sped up with age. On average, men lost about 3 cm and women about 5 cm by 70, and 5 cm and 8 cm by 80.

Source 28

A new stoop needs checkingStrong evidence

The NHS says some older people develop a stooped posture when bones in the spine have broken from osteoporosis. New height loss, a new stoop or sudden back pain needs a GP; see the warning signs below.

Sources 29, 30

Back strength helps

As our yoga for posture guide explains, back-strengthening exercise reduces an age-related rounded back a little, and the yoga trial above reduced the curve by 4% to 5% on two measures. Our yoga for posture and exercise for osteoporosis guides cover the poses and the changes to make with fragile bones.

How often

Our editorial starting point: the 25-minute yoga for posture class 2 or 3 times a week, as that class suggests, judged after about 3 months by how you stand, feel and move rather than by a tape measure.

Back lifts

Hold each lift for 3 to 5 seconds and lower slowly: that's the dose on the seated upper-back lift's page, and the yoga for posture class uses it for locust and low cobra too. Lift a little, keep your neck long and your eyes down.

If you measure your height

The UK growth charts warn that "it is difficult to measure height accurately", and you lose height through the day, so measure at the same time of day, without shoes, against a wall (our suggestion).

Sources 12, 9

See a GP about a child's growth

See a GP if:

• Your child is not growing as expected for their age (the NHS's words).
• Their height seems to be dropping away from their usual line on the growth chart, or is far below what you'd expect from your heights (our plain reading of the UK growth chart criteria; the GP will plot it).
• Signs of puberty start before 8, or haven't started by 15.
• Signs of a curve in a child or teenager: a visibly curved spine, leaning to one side, uneven shoulders, one shoulder or hip sticking out, or ribs sticking out on one side.

Sources 2, 17, 12, 14

The same day: a limp or sudden leg pain in a child

Sudden pain in the hip, thigh or knee, a limp, or not putting any weight on 1 leg: an urgent GP appointment or NHS 111 the same day. Hip problems can sometimes be felt in the thigh or knee.

See a GP about new height loss

New hunching, a change in posture, height loss, or unexplained back pain with muscle spasms, especially after a minor fall or bump, or if you're 50 or over, have been through the menopause or take steroid medicines: these can be signs of spinal fractures from osteoporosis.

Source 29

During yoga

Stop for chest pain, dizziness or feeling faint, or unusual breathlessness. Call 999 for chest pain that feels tight or like squeezing, or spreads to your arms, neck or jaw. Stop any pose that hurts.

Source 31

"Yoga makes you taller after puberty"Mixed evidence

Bones lengthen only at the growth plates, which close during adolescence. No trial has tested yoga for height, and in the one yoga trial that measured it, height changed by about 3 mm.

Sources 4, 6, 11

"Hanging, stretching or an inversion table adds inches"Mixed evidence

Taking the load off your spine adds a few millimetres for a while, the same thing that makes you taller in the morning. Once you're upright again, it settles back.

Sources 9, 10, 25

"Certain poses boost growth hormone and make you taller"Mixed evidence

Some pages say camel pose or cobra activates the pituitary gland; we found no study that tested this.

Source 6

"Exercise, gymnastics or yoga stunt a child's growth"Emerging evidence

Supervised weight training didn't affect growth, intensive gymnastics doesn't reduce adult height, and reviews find no effect of sport on growth in height.

Sources 19, 18, 8

"Skipping, basketball or swimming will make your child taller"Emerging evidence

Skipping didn't change height in 15 trials, and sport didn't change growth in height. They're great for bones, heart and fun.

Sources 7, 8

"You can grow taller in a week"Mixed evidence

Your height changes by about 2 cm across a single day, and height is hard to measure accurately, so a change in a week is measurement, not growth.

Sources 9, 12

"Good posture adds 2 to 3 inches"Mixed evidence

Standing tall shows your full height. In older adults with a rounded upper back, 6 months of yoga changed measured height by about 3 mm.

Source 11