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Humans grow most quickly when young, and to a lesser extent in preadolescence and early adolescence. However an equilibrium is then reached in adulthood, typically at around 1.6/1.7 meters tall.

I have found the age at which people "stop growing", meaning that they are at their tallest hight, is around the age of 21-25.

Why is it beneficial for humans to grow to 1.6/1.7 meters?

Why is there so so much variation in this, with some reaching there full height in there early teenage years?

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Human bones grow in length due to the effects of human growth hormone on the epiphyseal plates near the ends of the bone. Over time these two growing margins decrease in size, or width, until those special cells are either gone, or can no longer respond to hGH. At that point the body has no mechanism to increase the size of the skeleton, and growth stops. In females this tends to happen earlier than in males; approximately 2 years after the onset of puberty for females.

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