It has been speculated that participation in certain sports, particularly before the growth plates fuse can stunt growth. Caffeine has been said to stunt growth. In some people, very frequent skydiving over many years leads to tiny fractures which reduce height. Osteoporosis has the same effect.
I have always believed that food has a high impact on height as well. Example: Compare third generation Chinese-descended Americans with their immigrant counterparts. They are usually much taller. It has been speculated that American beef may be the key difference. My man took vitamins his entire childhood, and into his adolescence. My mother couldn't afford to feed the appetite vitamins gave me, and so my chewables were cut off. I'm among the shortest in my family. My little brother, is tiny compared to anyone in his or my family. We share a short grandmother; everyone else in his brood are very tall. However, he is the youngest of his mother's ten children, and did not get the same amount of meat at early ages that some of his siblings got. After our (vegetarian) father moved out, he also didn't eat many veggies. I believe it's the diet.
