How can you tell how tall your child will be?

How can you tell how tall your child will be?

Here's a popular example:

• Add the mother's height and the father's height in either inches or centimeters.
• Add 5 inches (13 centimeters) for boys or subtract 5 inches (13 centimeters) for girls.

What Is a Height and Weight Chart?

Height and weight charts can determine whether you’re the correct weight for your height. Healthcare providers use these tools to monitor:

• childhood growth and development
• weight management
• weight loss

When you go in for a regular checkup, your healthcare provider will likely take your height and weight measurements. They then use the measurements to determine whether you’re in a normal weight range for your height, age, and gender.

It’s important to recognize that these tools are only part of health assessments. No one number fits every individual.

Body mass index (BMI)

A BMI chart is among the most common height and weight charts used by healthcare providers. Medical professionals use this tool for people as young as age 2. The primary purpose is to determine whether you’re within a normal weight range for your height, or if you’re underweight or overweight.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals fall into one of the following BMI ranges:

• 18.5 or less: underweight
• 18.5 to 24.9: healthy weight range
• 25.0 to 29.9: overweight
• 30.0 or higher: obese

BMI derives from one of the following two formulas, depending on the units of measurement for height and weight:

• pounds and inches: weight (pounds) divided by [height (inches)] squared, and the result multiplied by 703
• kilograms and meters: weight (kilograms) divided by [height (meters)] squared