It is the nature of parents to fret about their children's health, and whether they are "average” when compared to other children. For example, the average 11-year-old boy is 52 inches tall and weighs 77 pounds.
But so what? What do we do with this information?
If we're smart, it's just the starting point. Our children have grown in fits and spurts their entire lives. That 11-year-old boy was about 29 inches tall and 22 pounds when he hit his first birthday. Over that first year, he gained about 8 ounces and half an inch a month, so his weight tripled! Obviously that can't happen every year.
Still, children do have growth spurts. They gain weight rapidly. They also might lose weight rapidly. They grow inches, seemingly overnight. None of this is cause for concern.
That average one-year-old will grow about another two inches each year before ages two and three, but then the leaps begin: Four more inches by age four to reach 37 inches, leveling off at around two inches each year until another four-inch spurt as he's turning nine, then another three inches to get him to his 11-year-old height. After that, watch out! In the next year he might zoom up anywhere from six to 10 inches and still be considered "average.”
Pediatricians tend to rely more on percentiles of growth. If our 11-year-old is taller than half the boys his age and shorter than the others, he would be at the 50th percentile marker.
Rarely do percentiles alone give cause for concern, although the extremes are an exception. A child in the 5th percentile might be watched for malnutrition or disease, while one in the 95th percentile might be observed for obesity.
These averages are more useful for tracking trends. A child who is shorter than average but remains so throughout his development might not be average on the chart … but he might be just right for him.
But so what? What do we do with this information?
If we're smart, it's just the starting point. Our children have grown in fits and spurts their entire lives. That 11-year-old boy was about 29 inches tall and 22 pounds when he hit his first birthday. Over that first year, he gained about 8 ounces and half an inch a month, so his weight tripled! Obviously that can't happen every year.
Still, children do have growth spurts. They gain weight rapidly. They also might lose weight rapidly. They grow inches, seemingly overnight. None of this is cause for concern.
That average one-year-old will grow about another two inches each year before ages two and three, but then the leaps begin: Four more inches by age four to reach 37 inches, leveling off at around two inches each year until another four-inch spurt as he's turning nine, then another three inches to get him to his 11-year-old height. After that, watch out! In the next year he might zoom up anywhere from six to 10 inches and still be considered "average.”
Pediatricians tend to rely more on percentiles of growth. If our 11-year-old is taller than half the boys his age and shorter than the others, he would be at the 50th percentile marker.
Rarely do percentiles alone give cause for concern, although the extremes are an exception. A child in the 5th percentile might be watched for malnutrition or disease, while one in the 95th percentile might be observed for obesity.
These averages are more useful for tracking trends. A child who is shorter than average but remains so throughout his development might not be average on the chart … but he might be just right for him.
