The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attitudes of middle-school students about height and their behaviors related to height gain.

One thousand four hundred twenty two middle-school students were included. We requested that the students complete a battery of questionnaires asking about problems associated with height.

There was a clear difference between real height and desired height. Most students (83.7%) had height dissatisfaction. Most students (91.1%) were concerned about their height. Few students made efforts to improve their height, even though most students had height dissatisfaction and were concerned about their height. Herbal medicine had a tendency to become popularized in treatments for height. Students generally did not judge their friends by height, but there was a small tendency to ignore shorter friends and to feel a sense of inferiority around taller friends. Most students had a greater desire to have a beautiful face than a good body, especially to be tall. Most students thought that there would be some handicaps in life if they had a short stature.

The attitudes and concerns about height in adolescence should be understood, and recognized as one aspect of treatment for problems associated with height.