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Does Gymnastics Stunt Growth? What Studies Actually Show

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The best research so far doesn’t show that gymnastics stunts growth. A 2013 expert review concluded that the evidence doesn’t support the idea that intensive training reduces gymnasts’ adult height. Elite gymnasts tend to be short mainly because shorter, later-maturing children are more likely to take up the sport and stay in it, and because shortness often runs in their families.

Contents

That isn’t a guarantee for every child. The studies are small and mostly short-term, a few have reached different conclusions, and the years of hardest training overlap with puberty and the growth spurt. A change in an individual gymnast’s growth still deserves a doctor’s attention, whatever the averages say.

The short answer

Common belief What the research shows
Gymnastics makes children shorter as adults Not supported: a 2013 review concluded that intensive training doesn’t compromise adult height, though the data have limits
Gymnasts are short because of training Mostly selection and family height: gymnasts tend to be shorter before intensive training begins, and their parents tend to be shorter than average
Gymnasts go through puberty later On average, yes, much like other short, late-maturing children who aren’t athletes
Not eating enough can affect growth Poor nutrition can limit growth, and under-fueling can harm bone, reproductive and mental health; it should never be part of training
A growth-plate injury can change height A badly managed one can affect how a single bone grows; with proper treatment, most heal without complications

Why elite gymnasts are often short

Height is mostly inherited. MedlinePlus, from the U.S. National Library of Medicine, says scientists estimate that about 80 percent of a person’s height comes from inherited genetic variation, with a smaller contribution from environment, including nutrition. That helps explain why children usually end up roughly as tall as their parents, and why predicting one child’s adult height is hard.

Gymnastics then sorts children by size. A 2013 review in Sports Medicine, written by growth researchers convened by the international federation’s Scientific Commission, found that gymnasts are already somewhat shorter than average when they enter the sport, though within the normal range, and that their parents tend to be shorter than the general population. Gymnasts who stayed in the sport through adolescence were, as a group, shorter and later-maturing than those who dropped out.

The sport’s demands help explain that sorting: the review noted that skills involving rotation appear to favor shorter gymnasts with a lower center of gravity. A photo of an Olympic final shows only the athletes who came through every stage of that selection. It can’t show how tall they would have grown in another sport. Our guide to the average height of female gymnasts has the Olympic figures, and there is no height limit in gymnastics.

What the studies show, and where they disagree

The 2013 review is the most thorough look at the question. Allowing for the limits of the data, it concluded that intensive training doesn’t compromise the adult or near-adult height of female or male gymnasts and doesn’t appear to slow pubertal growth, and that the evidence on hormones was too thin to judge. It also cautioned against terms such as “blunted growth” or “growth faltering,” because the data can’t show that training caused the patterns seen in gymnasts.

The review was open about those limits. Most studies were small, brief or a single snapshot in time. Few followed gymnasts until they had stopped growing, which for some young people isn’t until their early 20s, and boys had been studied much less than girls.

Some studies sound different. A 1993 Swiss study followed 22 gymnasts training about 22 hours a week and 21 swimmers for a little over two years. The gymnasts grew more slowly, and their predicted adult heights fell. The authors concluded that heavy training through puberty could stop a gymnast from reaching her full adult height, but they were working from predictions, not measured adult heights.

A 2000 Australian study of 83 active gymnasts, 42 retired gymnasts and 154 healthy comparison participants found that the active gymnasts were short partly because the sport had selected girls with shorter legs. Their shorter trunks looked more like a training effect, but trunk growth sped up after girls retired, and gymnasts who had been retired for about eight years showed no shortfall.

Boys have been studied far less. A 2012 study of 86 elite male gymnasts, measured at European and World Championships, found final heights below what their parents’ heights predicted, though still well within the normal range, with a weak link between harder training and a shorter final height. Predictions based on parents’ heights carry a wide margin of error, about 10 cm (4 inches) either way, according to the 2013 review.

Put together, the evidence doesn’t show that gymnastics makes children shorter, and it can’t completely rule out an effect in a few heavily trained athletes. That is why the 2013 review recommended monitoring each gymnast’s growth, so that unusual patterns can be noticed and referred for medical attention.

Height, growth rate and maturation answer different questions

Measurement or term Question it addresses
Current height How tall is the child at this measurement?
Growth rate How much has height changed over a defined period?
Maturation Where is the child in biological development?
Predicted adult height What does an estimation method suggest, with uncertainty?
Measured adult height What height was reached after growth was complete?

Two children of the same age can be at different stages of development, so comparing their heights today doesn’t show which will grow more later. A predicted height is an estimate, not a measurement from the future, so a gap between predicted and actual height can’t be read as exact centimeters “lost to gymnastics.”

Puberty and the growth spurt

Gymnasts as a group tend to mature later, with later bone age, later signs of puberty and later first periods. The 2013 review found these patterns resemble those of other short, late-maturing children who aren’t athletes. It concluded that training doesn’t appear to delay puberty, while noting that the role of training and energy balance in the timing of first periods isn’t clear.

The growth spurt, also known as peak height velocity, is when a child grows fastest, and it is a demanding time for any gymnast. A USA Gymnastics guide to the growth spurt puts its typical timing at ages 9 to 14 for girls and 11 to 16 for boys, and notes that between 10 and 16, athletes of the same age can be four to five years apart in development.

During the spurt, skills can stall or slip, coordination can suffer and injuries become more likely. The guide notes that bone density dips temporarily around the spurt, which raises the risk of fractures, and suggests adjusting training hours, repetitions or intensity, allowing enough rest days and avoiding comparisons with teammates who are developing at a different rate.

A 2026 systematic review of 65 studies of young athletes in gymnastics and other aesthetic and acrobatic sports points the same way. Gymnastics training before puberty was linked with better bone health, particularly in weight-bearing bones, but the risk of bone injuries rose around puberty, and the authors recommend monitoring growth and maturation to guide training.

Weekly hours matter too. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ general guidance is no more hours of training a week than a child’s age in years, with one or two rest days a week. Our guide to moving into more structured gymnastics explains how families can use it.

Eating enough matters more than any number

A growing gymnast needs enough food for growth as well as training. When food intake falls short of what training uses, an athlete is at risk of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport, shortened to REDs or RED-S. The American Academy of Pediatrics’ gymnastics guidance notes that it can affect reproductive health, bone health and mental health, and asks parents and coaches to watch for rapid weight loss or unusual eating behaviors.

Whether under-fueling changes adult height is harder to pin down. The 2013 review found energy-intake data in gymnasts too short-term for firm conclusions, though in one study of young gymnasts, energy intake helped predict how fast they grew. USA Gymnastics’ growth-spurt guide adds that food needs can rise during the spurt, and that cutting back as the body changes can further lower bone density.

Height, weight and body-fat targets don’t belong in a young gymnast’s training plan. Questions about food and growth go to the child’s doctor and, where needed, a qualified sports dietitian. Our guide to fueling, training and recovery for female gymnasts covers the practical side.

Growth-plate injuries are a different issue

Growth plates are areas of cartilage near the ends of a child’s long bones, where the bones lengthen. They are the last part of the bone to harden, which makes them vulnerable, and they can be injured by a single fall or by repeated stress from overtraining, according to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.

In gymnastics, the AAP singles out the wrist, which takes heavy loads because gymnasts walk and jump on their hands, and it lists heel pain from an inflamed growth plate in the heel, known as Sever’s disease. Pain that lasts or keeps coming back deserves a medical assessment, not a shrug about growing pains. Our guide to the most common injuries in female gymnasts covers them in more detail.

A badly managed growth-plate injury can affect how that one bone grows; the AAOS notes it could leave a limb crooked or unequal in length to the other. Serious problems are rare, though, and with proper treatment most growth-plate fractures heal without complications. That is a question about one injured bone, not evidence that ordinary training makes a whole child shorter.

When to talk to a doctor

Talk to your child’s doctor about a change in her growth pattern, ongoing tiredness, injuries that keep coming back, missed periods, worries about puberty or restrictive eating. The AAP lists missed periods among the overtraining problems female athletes should watch for.

Growth is judged over time, from the child’s own measurements and history, not by comparing her with teammates. It helps to bring earlier height records if you have them, her current training schedule and any recent changes. A coach can explain how training is adapted during growth; assessing growth and symptoms is the doctor’s job.

Keep that conversation separate from team decisions. No child should be asked to stay small to keep a skill or a place on the team. For broader questions about how a program handles pain and injuries, see how to evaluate gymnastics safety.

Common questions

Does gymnastics stunt your growth?

The best evidence says no. A 2013 review concluded that intensive gymnastics training doesn’t compromise adult height, although the studies are small and a few have reached different conclusions.

Why are gymnasts so short?

Mostly selection and family height. Shorter children are more likely to enter and stay in high-level gymnastics, gymnasts’ parents tend to be shorter than average, and rotating skills appear to favor a smaller body.

Does gymnastics delay puberty?

Gymnasts tend to mature later on average, but the pattern looks like that of other short, late-maturing children, and the 2013 review found that training doesn’t appear to be the cause. Not eating enough for training can affect periods, so missed periods are worth raising with a doctor.

Do gymnasts grow more after they quit?

Some do catch up. In the 2000 Australian study, trunk growth sped up in the year after girls retired, and long-retired gymnasts showed no height shortfall. But stopping gymnastics isn’t a growth treatment and catch-up can’t be promised; a child whose growth slows needs an individual assessment.

Are male gymnasts affected differently?

Boys have been studied much less, and the few studies of elite men are mixed. The same advice applies to both: watch the individual child’s growth rather than relying on averages. Our guide to the average height of male gymnasts has the elite figures.

Final Takeaway

Gymnastics hasn’t been shown to stunt growth. Elite gymnasts are often short because the sport tends to attract and keep smaller, later-maturing children, many from shorter families, not because training stops their bones from growing.

The research has limits, though, and every child’s growth still matters. Make sure she eats enough for training and growth, be patient through the growth spurt, take lasting pain seriously and talk to her doctor if her growth, periods or eating change.

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