Why do we get growing pains?
But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
This episode of But Why explores the biological science behind human growth, featuring pediatric neurologist Dr. Zurisadai Gonzalez-Castillo from the University of Texas
Key takeaways
- Dr. Zurisadai Gonzalez-Castillo explains that human growth is a coordinated effort involving hormones, builder cells, bones, and genes inherited from both parents.
- The CDC reports average U.S. adult heights as 5'7" for males and 5'3" for females, with Sultan Khosen cited as the tallest living person at 8'3".
Main topics
- Human skeletal growth and growth plates
- Genetics and parental inheritance of height
Notable quotes
"We actually now know, and again, doctors and scientists have looked at this, and we know that the pain does not come actually from the actual growing."
Conclusion
The episode provides a clear, age-appropriate breakdown of human biolo
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:20) This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public. I'm Jane Lindholm. On this show, we take questions from curious kids just like you, and we find answers. Our bodies are always changing. Even as an adult, your body changes, but the changes are especially noticeable and fast when you're a kid. We have a doorway in my house where our family measures our height every six months or so. My height stays the same every time. But my kids have grown an inch every time we check. And a lot of kids grow three or four inches in just one year when they hit their growth spurt. But not everybody experiences these changes at the same time. So it's no surprise that a lot of you are wondering, what is the deal with how we grow and why we stop? Let's talk with someone who can help demystify the business of growing. Speaker 1 (1:12) My full name is Suri Sadae Gonzalez-Castillo. Speaker 2 (1:15) Dr. Gonzalez is a pediatric neurologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Speaker 1 (1:21) And what that means is that I am that doctor that takes care of the brain and the nerves for kids. And you can think of the nerves as those wirings that go all over your body. to help you move and send messages to your body. Speaker 2 (1:39) Neurologists like Dr. Gonzalez study the brain and the system in our body that makes sure the messages from your brain get where they need to go. That system is called the nervous system. And we should actually talk about the nervous system for just a second because... It's amazing. We have this system that can carry messages between our brain and the rest of our body, and growing is all about how the brain communicates with our body. Your nervous system is made up of two main parts. The first is called the central nervous system, which is your brain and your spinal cord. Dr. Gonzalez says you can think of the central nervous system as the command center for your body. The other part is called the peripheral nervous system. The peripheral nervous system includes all the nerves that come off your brain and spinal cord and run through your body. These nerves are really important because they're the ones that get those signals out to faraway places like your fingertips and your toes or your eyes. Here's an example of how your nervous system works. Let's say I'm out running around playing with my friends and at the last second I see a puddle and I'm about to hit it. But I don't want to get my sneakers wet. So at the very last second, I quickly lift up and sail over it and jump clear of the puddle. I don't even really think about it. I mean, it happens in a flash. But Dr. Gonzalez says there's a lot going on in my brain and body to make sure that I didn't get my Speaker 1 (3:05) sneakers wet. Yeah, right. That is actually pretty complex because everything starts in your brain. But that idea has to become actually a signal and go run through that neuron or cell, that worker that is going to transmit or send that signal all the way down to your spinal cord, to those big nerves or wirings. then get into your muscle and tell your muscle, that engine, to move. Hey, let's jump and have fun. So it sounds easy, and yes, we don't think about it, but it's a very complex thing that happens inside our brain and our peripheral nervous system. And our whole body works as a team. Yes, the nervous system is amazing, but we wouldn't be able to do the things that we do. without our heart beating and sending blood, or us breathing while our muscles move. So it is amazing. Speaker 2 (4:07) We humans are complex creatures. All right, let's get down to the business of growing. Speaker 3 (4:13) Hi, my name is Sophie. I'm five years old. I am from Kansas City. I want to know how bodies grow. My name is Cosmo, and I'm four years old. I live in London, and my question is, how do you grow? I love the show. Speaker 2 (4:35) Hi, my name is Eitan. I'm 10 years old, and I live in Israel, and this is my sister. Speaker 3 (4:40) Hello, my name is Tal, and I'm six and a half, and we're curious about... How do people grow? Hello, my name is Amelia, and I'm five years old, and I live in downtown New York. My Speaker 2 (4:53) name's Evelyn, and Speaker 3 (4:54) I'm four years old. My name is Louis. I am 10 years old. I'm from Kansas City. Hello, my name is Grayson. I'm 8 years old. I live in Richmond, Virginia. My name is Maya, and I'm 6 years old, and I'm from Boca Lake, California. My name is Nola. I'm 4 years old. How do people grow? Our Speaker 1 (5:19) bodies are very complex, and growing is actually very complex as well. And there is actually a whole team that work together to help us get bigger and grow. And I'm going to just mention a few of these team members. One of those are what we call the hormones, and those are the chemical messengers that are circulating in our body telling us, well, it's time to grow. We also have these. Cells that are the builders, right, that do a lot of this work to help us grow. Another thing that help us grow, and you will see that's why we get taller and taller, are actually our bones. And then, not the less important, actually, I would think that is one of the most important members of the team is actually our genes. Those are the instruction manual that have, again, all of the recipe to tell our body how we should grow. And Speaker 2 (6:28) the genes, those are the pieces, those instructions that came from your two biological parents. So the two humans that created you each shared the genes and those genes. packaged together in a way that makes you unique, but that's how you got that instruction manual. Speaker 1 (6:48) Right. So the genes are inside a big DNA book that is the bigger instruction manual. And just as you said, these come from our parents. And so we have two copies for each one of our genes, one that comes from mom, one that comes from dad. And we have one pair of these genes. for each one of every single feature that you can imagine in your body. Color of your eyes, your hair, how tall you're gonna be. Speaker 3 (7:19) Hello, my name's Giovanna. I'm seven years old and I live in the UK. Why do we grow? Hi, my name is Luca. I am seven years old and I live in Briarcliff Manor, New York. And my question is, why do we grow? Speaker 2 (7:37) Why do we need to grow? Why can't we just all be born fully grown? Speaker 1 (7:41) Wow, that's a very complex and a really great question at the same time. Why don't we,