It was the bizarre image that sparked a thousand internet memes earlier this month.
Gary Barlow’s 24-year-old son towered over his father, making the 53-year-old look lithe in appearance.
The images prompted social media users to unearth images of other ‘giant’ famous children – including Bear Grylls’ 18-year-old son Mamaduke and Donald Trump’s son Barron Trump, 18, and most recently the eldest son of Kourtney Kardashian, Mason. 14.
Now, a new study presented at the American Heart Association Conference in Chicago has offered an explanation for the phenomenon.
Experts from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York examined data from 13,000 Americans of Latino and Hispanic descent, including details such as their height, socioeconomic upbringing and genetics.
The findings showed that of the factors that determine how tall we grow, family income was the second strongest indicator after genetics.
While 70-80 percent of how tall we grow is determined by the genes we inherit from our parents, the rest is determined by our environment.
Previous research has shown that sleep, stress and access to healthcare are all important factors.
Kourtney – who is five feet tall – went to the store with Mason and her daughter Penelope, 12, on Monday
But the experts have found that growing up in a wealthier family can trump other contributors.
The team wrote that this could indicate “better nutrition and societal resources to promote growth.”
They also found that this height was also linked to better heart health and cognitive skills in children.
However, they noted that gains in heart health could be reversed later in life once lifestyle factors such as obesity from eating too many calories caught up.
All children of celebrities come from wealthy households.
Take That singer Gary Barlow has reportedly earned a whopping £90million, while Kourtney is expected to be worth around £28million.
Professional adventurer Bear Grylls reportedly earned £8.2 million this year alone.
However, they are all overshadowed by Trump, who reportedly has a net worth of £5 billion, although an equal share of the president’s assets are tied up in the share values of his own companies.
The findings echo an earlier British study which found that children from poorer areas in England were more than four times as likely to perform below the average height for their age compared to children from more affluent areas.
A wealth of data also shows that children from richer countries are, on average, taller than children from poorer countries.
Gary Barlow shares Daniel, 25 (L) Emily, 22 and Daisy, 15 (R) with 25-year-old wife Dawn Andrews (far right). The photo went viral after a sweet family photo showed his son towering over him, but some are shocked by his actual height
Barron, 18, could be seen standing a head above the rest of the Republican cohort as they took the stage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.
A photo of Bear Grylls and his rarely seen son Marmaduke has emerged as the 18-year-old upstaged the 50-year-old adventurer as they posed for a family photo in April
The height of British children, and its link to nutrition, became a political talking point earlier this year.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer attacked the then Conservative government over figures showing Britain falling in the international rankings for child height.
The average of five-year-old girls in the country fell 27 places in international comparisons between 1985 and 2019. Portugal, Turkey and Brazil.
For boys, Britain has fallen 33 places over the same period, behind Egypt, Haiti, Ukraine and Argentina.
Data also showed British five-year-olds are on average 7cm shorter than Dutch children, with some experts blaming a poor diet.
The average five-year-old boy in Britain is 112.5cm tall, compared to 119.6cm in the Netherlands.
The average girl is about 111.5 cm tall, while her Dutch peer is 118.3 cm, according to national data collected by the Non-Communicable Diseases Risk Factor Collaboration.
Charities and food campaigners in Britain have been quick to blame junk food diets rich in ultra-processed foods for stunting children’s growth.
A report from The Food Foundation shows that the average height of five-year-olds has fallen since 2013, with British boys ranked shortest and girls second shortest among developed countries.
The charity’s report noted that this decline in height was due to a reduction in consumption of key nutrients in the average British diet, including calcium, zinc, vitamin A, folic acid and iron.