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A number of hereditary diseases are known to be associated with severe impairments in longitudinal bone growth. For example, achondroplastic individuals are of low stature and have a characteristic physical appearance [11]. The stature of an individual is also subject to modulation by nonhereditary factors and so are genetically based defects generally.

Dwarfism and gigantism are very patent manifestations of disturbances in longitudinal bone growth. A classical example of the latter is eunuchism, which is precipitated by castration. Castrated males do not produce sexual hormones. Their absence at the time of puberty leads to an uncontrolled elongation of the bones and thus to gigantism. If, on the other hand, castration is effected after the attainment of sexual maturity, the growth plates will already have undergone closure and a resumption of longitudinal bone growth is therefore not possible. Likewise, in adults with human-growth-hormone-producing tumors, the activity of the closed growth plates cannot be resumed and gigantism does not ensue. However, the long bones are still subject to an increase in girth, since their lateral growth is effected not endochondrally but intramembranously by the direct apposition of osseous tissue subperiosteally. Hyperplasia of peripheral soft tissues also occurs. The resulting clinical condition is referred to as acromegaly. If sex-hormones-producing tumors develop during childhood, the prepubertal growth spurt is forestalled. As a consequence, the growth plates undergo premature closure, which results in dwarfism if the tumor is not removed.

Longitudinal bone growth is also subject to influence by nutritional factors and notoriously by a dietary deficiency in vitamin D₃. If this deficiency is not remedied in a timely manner in children, then longitudinal bone growth and height will be stunted. A deficiency in vitamin D₃ is also associated with a softening of the bones, which can lead to grotesque disfigurements, including bowleggedness.

Geodemographically, the nutritional status of a population at large can impact the average stature. For example, during the times of economic decline in the Netherlands, when poverty was widespread, the impoverished people did not have the means to purchase sufficient food to stave hunger, which led to undernourishment. As a consequence, the average height of the population was lower than it is now, when the economy is thriving.

In highly industrialized countries, the impact of aerial, aqueous, and earthy pollutants on longitudinal bone growth in children is of current concern. Correlations have indeed been identified between the presence of environmental toxins and a stunting of longitudinal bone growth, which is reflected by a reduction in the average stature of the implicated populations [32].