Question

The table given below shows the likely heights of boys and girls as they grow in age. Draw graphs showing their height and age for both boys and girls on the same graph paper. What conclusions can be drawn from these graphs?

Age             \[\left( {Years} \right)\]	Height \[\left( {cm} \right)\] Boys	Height \[\left( {cm} \right)\] Girls
\[0\]	\[53\]	\[53\]
\[4\]	\[96\]	\[92\]
\[8\]	\[114\]	\[110\]
\[12\]	\[129\]	\[133\]
\[16\]	\[150\]	\[150\]
\[20\]	\[173\]	\[165\]

Answer 1

Hint: The graph shows us the relation between the heights of boys and girls with respect to their age. As we know, age from \[12 - 14\] years is the age when a girl/boy acquires puberty. Before and after puberty, lots of changes occur in one’s body due to the release of some specific hormones. These hormones are different in males and females, and therefore lead to different kinds of changes in them.

Complete answer:
We can see, during the age of \[4 - 8\] years girls have less height as compared to boys.
Both boys and girls experience a sudden increase in height during puberty.
However, as soon as girls reach their adolescent age \[\left( {12 - 13{\text{ }}year} \right)\] their height shows a sudden increase and becomes more than boys.
Later, the height increases and becomes stable at some stage and does not increase any more.
These changes in height are controlled by growth hormone along with various pituitary hormones.
Once puberty is reached, testosterone in males and estrogen and progesterone in females are found to be released, which performs their functions which later leads to different changes in both the sexes.

Additional information:
Growth plates close around the age of \[16\] in women and between the ages of \[14\] and \[19\] in men \[\left( {10} \right)\]. Even though most adults will not experience true growth of the long bones, some minor daily variations in height are normal.
When compared to children, the efficacy of height-weight charts is most pronounced in adults because the measurements are standardized. It is less prone to variation in adults, which is important in the case of growing children, where it can have an impact on the child's development.
Men and women have different biological and physiological configurations, so their muscle composition and mass differ greatly.

Note:
It’s not just the height that is affected after puberty. The androgens in males and estrogen in females bring out the other secondary sexual characters in them. For ex. spermatogenesis starts in men and growth of mammary glands in females.