Children are getting taller faster than ever before, but height still affects their confidence

If children from the beginning of the last century could see us now they would get quite a shock. Because a modern group of 10 year olds would tower over their Edwardian counterparts.

In fact it would have taken children born a hundred years ago an extra three years to grow to the same height our modern children average today. And the gap is ever widening.

So if you're thinking your children seem a lot bigger than you ever were at their age, they probably are.

Research by Thorpe Park discovered that children reach the height of 1.4m at age 10, whereas in 1911 they didn't get there until age 13. And of course the theme park has a vested interest in this number as it's the magical height children have to reach before they're allowed on all the big/scary/exciting roller coaster rides at the park.

[Is it weird to kiss my kids on the mouth?]
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Professor Gary Butler of Reading University found that children are growing faster than ever before - at a rate of about an extra centimetre a decade. A trend which could be put down to better access to food, exercise and a wider gene pool than our ancestors.

The research also discovered that London has the tallest youngsters, with more eight year olds hitting 1.4m than anywhere else in the country.

And it's not just about rollercoasters. Height is very important to children's sense of identity and self confidence. More than half (60 per cent) were more interested in getting taller than getting older.

Dr Angharad Rudkin, Clinical Psychologist at the University of Southampton commented, “Height is a concept that children of all ages can grasp because it is very visual, small children will often gauge how old someone is based just on how tall they are.

"At school being tall can affect how confident the child is, boys in particular want to be the tallest in their class as they associate height with being more capable, strong and sporty."

Thorpe Park celebrated the increasing growth of children by throwing 'Happy Height Day' and giving free entry to the park to the first 500 children arriving who were between 1.4 and 1.5m high. It's now fully open again for its summer season.