Eli5 Why are women so much shorter than men?
In: 60
Pop-evolution takes without any actual scientific support aside, if you’re asking for the actual physiological mechanism:
When your bones are growing as a child, they have something called a [growth plate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphyseal_plate) at each of the major joints. That’s where new bone is produced as you grow. But when you’re a teenager and reach your full adult size, those growth plates irreversibly convert to just regular old bone (“fusion”).
This process is triggered in part by estrogen, one of the major hormones that differs between the sexes. Higher estrogen levels in girls cause the bone plates to fuse earlier than men: girls’ bones typically stop growing around 14 or 15, while boys stop a few years later. That means less growth in each bone, and thus a smaller body overall. Estrogen levels in boys rise during puberty too (estrogen in men is mostly produced by an enzyme converting testosterone into estrogen), but by a smaller amount, so their growth plates fuse later on.
Although this isn’t actually true at all ages. Girls typically hit puberty first, so they are actually on average slightly taller than boys for a few years from about ages 10 to 13. But by 14, most girls are very near their adult height, while boys continue to grow for a couple years, reaching their adult height around 16. You can see normal growth charts for [girls](https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/child-growth/growth-reference-5-19-years/height-for-age-(5-19-years)/cht-hfa-girls-perc-5-19years.pdf?sfvrsn=f90a33cf_4) and [boys](https://cdn.who.int/media/docs/default-source/child-growth/growth-reference-5-19-years/height-for-age-(5-19-years)/cht-hfa-boys-perc-5-19years.pdf?sfvrsn=457ae3f4_4) by following those links.
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