I'm a college freshmen, roughly 5'8-5'9. Sometimes, i feel really insecure because of my short stature. I know i shouldn't be complaning or anything (considering the fact that i know many other asians shorter than myself), but do any of you have the same feelings as i do? I REALLY want to gain at least another inch but don't know how likely that is. I just turned 18 a month ago and am desperately worried about my height. Am i being parinoid? I'm sure there are others out there just like me.

I'm 17 and I am 5'9" maybe on the upper side, near 5'10"
But sometimes I still feel short also. But with most asians at my school I think I fit along the average height among them. There are some taller ones, but less shorter. My sister on the other hand is younger by 2 years than me and is 5'7"

i'm 5'9 female (half asian)

I know when I was going to school, I was one of the taller ones standing at the higher end of 5'10". I have a younger brother going through college and he and his friends tower over me. I can only figure that there's something in the water... Though, walking through Chinatown in New York City still makes me feel like a giant sometimes.

Height is totally relative. I know guys who are 5'5 who wish they were 5'8. I have friends that are 5'8 that wish they were 5'10. I, myself, am close to 5'11 but wish I was 6'2-'3. Then I know people who are 6'2 that wish they were 6'5. I have talked to a few people who were really tall(like 6'4+) who wish they were my height because they keep bumping their heads into everything and they feel akward sometimes and hate to stand out from everyone. Like I said, it's all relative! So just be happy with what you have because they will always be someone who wants to be in your shoes.

Hello,

I'm asian and I am 5'7. With shoes, 5'8. Yeah, sometimes, I do feel short, but
hey, what can I do? There is nothing I can do, but live with it.
The important thing is that I'm healthy and happy. To me being
happy and healthy is far more important that being tall.

Don't feel insecure cause there are non-Asians shorter than
you. I have seen really short blacks and whites in my lifetime, far
shorter than I am. It is how confident you are with yourself.

But I do hope that Asian parents would stop feeding their
kids rice too much. Asian kids are getting way too much of
those and not enough meat and wheat.

Anyway, if you are 18, you still might grow if you eat healthy foods
along with the right diet and exercise. If you are a male, you
end growing at 25. If you are female, you end growing at 17-18.

You know, the national average male height is 5' 9". Think about that before you call yourself "too short".

Yeah - but that includes older generations of Americans, who are shorter. Your age group of Americans may be a bit taller than that figure.

Boy, you guys are really trying so hard to prove that you're inferior, aren't you?

Wasamatta with you people? I'm 5'4 w/ no shoes. 5'8 with 4" stiletto heels. I don't feel short at all.

MLK,

You're a midget. That's why you wear heals all the time.

And I'm only 2 feet tall! (When I'm laying down on my back. I call it "My Eiffel Tower", or "My Chinese Dragon"!!!)

asian_am_guy,

You and I share the same problem. Don't you hate it when you have to stand of top of the toilet just to take a pee without touching the water.

The image of AC standing on top of the toilet just kills me. hahahahahaha!!!!

AAGuy...you're just as bad as he is. Remind me to bring a tape measure the next time you guys compare notes.

So I'm a midget, eh? Well, let's just see who is going to look up at who.

AC, You are the first guy I met online who discusses this.

Yeah, I just hate it. Itz a skill that guys have to master. Sometimes I wonder if the toilet bowl was invented by females.. Otherwise why do we have such a hard time ! And they blame us for not aiming properly when we try to be considerate with our "toilet manners".

MLK,

are you inviting asian_am_guy and myself to a threesome online?
Who could imagine a straight lace banker girl could have such a dirty mouth online.

I don't think the tape measure would cut it. Might as well just stand inside a glass evelator and see what floor you need to stop at to see our heads.

Hans_Warrior,

I hear you bro. Not to mention the little holes in the tighty [epithet] underwear. How are you suppose to use that thing. Water won't come out of a hose if it is bend in the shape of s "Z"

Don't use the epi... whatever it is. After 20 years you might notice some change of shape...

Woopz. I feel guilty letting MLK know too much about guys.

Tape measure? Might as well use the odomenter from your car. Just hold one end and drive!!!

But that would have them driving into the next state.
LOL.

mights as well lay it down next to the Great Wall China and ask NASA to take a picture instead.

Yeah, that's why the call me "The Great Dong of China"!!!

Isn't that a title of a porno film?

Hey for you under 23s it's not too late

hormone shots actually do the trick 2-3 inches no problems. the trouble is you must consult an Asian American MD to subscribe it to you cuz (nudge nudge wink wink) my lord is something burining?

parents: it's an opprtunity for your kids to have a secure future i suggest you follow this path.

Oh a reminder: every inch takes 5 years off your life, you are prone to heart attacks earlier in life, how often do you see a whiteman of 6'+ in elary life over the age of 80? they kicked the bucket at around the early 70s while you have healthy Octogenerian Asians with full set of marbles and healthy appearance with the same living conditions minus the diet (rice 4 ever bitch!!).

Good thing you brought the topic back, we were heading to toilet and flushed down to nowhere.

Well you don't really need hormone shots. Perhaps a balanced diet (with calcium and protein) would do the trick. Especially for growing children between 12-21. Asians should balance rice with some western food. I noticed many westerners become more health conscious and include Asian food (Chinese, Sushi, Viet noodle) in their meals. Those are always a better choice if than pizzas and Mc D. Pizzas are damn fattening and Mc D love to give more than you can eat (pay slightly more for larger meals).

If I am not wrong, this should shoot you up around 2 inches if you are within that age range. Swimming and basketball helps too. Perhaps it is too much effort to be 2 inch taller, but the hidden benifits like living longer is worth it. Also, every inch counts when it comes to height. Sometimes 1 inch taller make may you even taller that you thought you looked.

umm... I think General Shinseki knows that's not always the case. Hormone shots work. Get it any way you can.

By the way why is height such a concern, the good lord made us this way and unless you want to suck up to white people why do you need it? of course it's job related but Asians are quickly becoming the new Jews of the US (i mean it in a good way) Asians will control business through proxy using white people as face.

Obviously, height is inversely related to life span. I wouldn't wanna be taller.

Are you sure about that Thomas?

So what is the lifespan of most NBA players?

Thomas, shouldn't it be precisely put as "life span is inversely related to height if you are taller than 180cm? I'm 179.5cm or a little less than 5'11" bare feet. According to a height percentile calculator, this puts me between the 70th to 75th percentile among British male adults. I'm roughly between the 60th to 75th percentile among American male adults. But why more than half of American male adults I meet here in China are taller than me? Maybe Americans in China are averagely tallers than their peers back home?

By the way, my observation on the teenagers in Chengdu gives me an impression that boys are shooting but girls more or less remain the same. My two younger male cousins are 183cm and 186.5cm respectively. But my female cousins are 155cm and 162cm. They are all between 17 and 20 years old. And when I look at high school graduate mobs on the streets I find the boys average much taller than my generation but the girls remain more or less the same height as my female classmates.

I didn't even read the other posts in this topic, but I'll go ahead and say something to hopefully help out my vertically-challenged AA brothers.

At 5'10", I ain't no skyscraper freak, but I've never felt inadequate about my height.

For those who didn't know, the average American male is 5'10", 160 lbs (though the weight thing has probably gone up because of rampant obesity). If you're about that tall, you're doing fine so don't sweat it.

As for you shorter guys, hell I don't know what to tell you. I moved to Hawaii a few years ago and suddenly realized that I'm freakin tall out here. Asians are tiny little f**ckers. Part of it is nutrition. Example: blacks grew bigger only after they "moved" to America because they were finally getting proper nutrition. Asians are presumably now going through the same thing. At least it looks to me like American-born Asians are usually taller and bigger than FOBs. Maybe it's just going to take a few more generations for some of you. But really, you shouldn't let it bother you.

The hard truth is that attitude and personality outstrip things like height by about a million times. Grow a confident personality, and people will respect you like you're freakin Yao Ming. Also, go lift weights or something. Short and built is better than tall and sucked-up. That's one thing about Asians in Hawaii - most are short, but damn if they ain't all built like tree-trunks.

There are a lot of tall-ass Asian folk out there. My dad is Southern Chinese and he's 6'2". Most Asian females where I live are an average of 5'4"-5'6", most males around 6 feet.

Conversely, most of my white male friends are like 5'6", which seems to be the average height for whiteboys around here.
Of course, black guys are the biggest of all.
The shortest race seems to be Latinos, so let's not worry and be on our merry way.

As mentioned in a previous post, diet is a crucial factor in determining adult height and build. The average Asian diet, with its lack of calcium and protein, is not exactly the most conducive to growth. Many Asian Americans, having grown up on a mixture of Western and Asian fare, are considerably taller and more robust in build than their compatriots overseas. However, in order to match other ethnic groups in size, Asians must consume a diet whose nutritional profile is as close as possible to that of the group whose stature they are trying to match. Let's face it--Asians don't eat Kalbi or Sushi or Pork Spareribs everyday, and certainly not in large quantities, nor do they drink as much milk as they should(if they could). Also, peripheral sources of protein such as brown rice and soy have been proven to be inferior in digestibility, and thus less thoroughly assimilated or implemented than beef or milk, for example. Of course, there seems to be a correlation between short stature and robustness in later life, but modern medicine and a healthy lifestyle should alleviate any concerns regarding a shortened lifespan due to large stature. Lastly, fat is a crucial element in the growth process, as it assists in hormone production. A deficiency in dietary fat could stunt growth in extreme cases, although it is highly unlikely that anyone living in America could possibly suffer from such a condition. Many Asians today are concerned about their short stature and small build, and aren't even doing anything about it! Although stature does not neccessarily determine physical strength or fitness(lifestyle is the primary factor), it certainly doesn't hurt to be bigger and more intimidating on the courts! I can't understand why we Asians always complain about being small and weak-looking while we overlook diet and lifestyle--as if we were cursed by nature.

So, to summarize,
-Drop the "got rice/AZN pride" dietary complex and start eating more meat. (I apologize for offending Vegetarians and Vegans. If you are a Vegetarian or Vegan, please disregard this entire post.)
-Drink as much milk as possible without getting the runs, using Lactaid if neccessary(i'm surprised i haven't yet heard any racist jokes about Asians and lactose intolerance).
-Of course, none of this will help if you're done growing, so if you're 30 and 5'3", sorry.
-Stop playing Warcraft III/Starcraft/whatever else causes Asians to atrophy, and use your muscles! Or else, you'll just be fat.
-It worked for me (i'm 5'10" and 200 lbs, with a fairly stocky build)
-You probably won't become a giant and there's no guarantee that you'll reach your genetic height potential, but you'll get closer to it than if you grew up eating nothing but rice and tofu.

The Northern Chinese are probably the tallest of all the Asians & they drink soy milk almost every day. Genetics has a lot to do with how tall you will be, however, the proper diet & exercise doesn't hurt either. I know some short or average height parents with tall children. I saw a lot of tall Chinese in China (including the older generation) , even a lot of Southern Chinese are fairly tall now, but not as tall as their Northern counterparts. You will find 6 footers in the South but most of the 7 footers will be from the North. Most of the Chinese in America are from the South. Most of China's models are from the central or north. Indians/Pakistanis are also pretty tall with long legs (they are the Asians with Caucasian features).

I haven't read all the topic yet but Yao Ming is pretty big. I don't know if it's true but my aunt said he's bigger than Kareem Abdul Jabaar. And when I saw Kareen fight Bruce on Game of Death, oh man was he huge. So I guess you can get pretty big. IMO, I like it how Asians are pretty small. It goes good for your type of body.

Asian Americans feeling "short" in America is what Sociologists refer to as conformity desire.
In America where people seem to be bred and fed to be taller and portlier, Asians who are on the average, smaller, are likely to feel pressure to conform to society and will feel their shortness is "deviant".
If you were living in your own Asian country where everyone is more alike, you would lose the desire to conform since you actually would be conforming to the norm.

Those of you that are 5'9-ish, please don't complain. You are among the average. Consider yourself lucky you're not 5'5 or under.

I am 5'9, so I'm lucky. My dad is 5'7. His dad was roughly 5'5. So now you see the trend? Asians will get taller and bigger as the years go by.

Also, drink 3 cups of milk a day, and you might get to 1.5-2 inches by the time you're 21-ish.

Still, I encourage all you Asian guys to lift weights. I can't stress that strongly enough. It makes you look, and feel good.

QUOTE

Also, drink 3 cups of milk a day, and you might get to 1.5-2 inches by the time you're 21-ish. Still, I encourage all you Asian guys to lift weights. I can't stress that strongly enough. It makes you look, and feel good.

Not only is it about drinking milk, it's about eating a balanced diet: dairy, meats, fish, beans and grains, and plenty of veggies and fruits. A growing male also needs sufficient amounts of excercise for his body to turn out strong. That's something that is under-valued in the Asian community.

You're also very right with your second point, work out more. It'll make you feel good and help squash the little-wimpy Asian male stereotype.

I don't think it matters all that much if you're tall or medium, as long as you are nicely proportioned. I don't like the human welsh corgi look: big head, long back, short little arms and legs. That's the least attractive body type. But we can't all have long legs, so I guess be healthy and happy with what you've got.

I do think that given the same attitude and ability, the tall person generally gets by more easily in life than the shorty. It's unfair but that's the way it is!

I think drinking milk really does allow you to grow taller -- my younger brother and sister both drank a lot of milk in their formative years, and they are both taller than me ! I'm 5'6 and they are 5'7 and over 6 feet. I didn't drink milk because I heard it made you fat, but in recent studies, (yahoo news - health section) it said that girls that drank milk a lot of milk (I don't know how much) had smaller waists than girls that didn't drink as much milk. Somthing like that. I wish I drank milk when I was a teenager. So here's your chance young people... drink milk and be tall and thin!

Well I don't think height matters as much as build. Because there are girls of all different height as well, so that as long as you make sure that you have the right build, the rest will take care of itself.

Besides, short people should rest easy knowing that some of the worlds' greatest leaders had been small-statured.

Oh yeah, I'm 6'0.

I'm 5'2 so stop complaining! I even have white genes, but I think they're defective for height.

If any part of your insecurity comes from being worried about the ladies looking down on you for being too short, I'll just tell you right now that majority of girls I know are a lot shorter than 5'8". My boyfriend is only like 5'5 or so (he says he's 5'6 but I know he lies!) and he still attracts tons of girls. I had to fight to get him.

Some of the posts here have been really comical, but there is some good sense too. Yes, nutrition affects all growth, but genetics are still an overriding factor in height.

I was 4'11" until well into my 20s and longed for just one more inch! I am now almost 5'4". The genes just seemed to kick in late. And now I know just how silly any concern over my height was. I still can reach the top shelves in the house wihout a step stool, but I can't duck and disappear in a crowd as easily as before either.

As for men shorter than me .... no problem. I have dated men shorter (by a few inches) and taller (by more than a foot) and each had their merits. And of course the problems, but not usually because of their height - except fo the one with a definite Napoleon complex.