Ideal Height & Weight for Children
Parents are often concerned with their child's growth and weight gain, wanting to ensure that their child is developing normally. However, there is no set ideal for a child's height and weight at any age.
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Considerations
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Not all children grow at the same rate, have the same bone structure or have the same lifestyle. All of these factors play a role in a child's development, causing a wide range of heights and weights to be acceptable for healthy children of any age. Doctors typically use individual growth charts to ensure that each child is developing normally.
Function
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Growth charts track a child's height and weight gains over time and compare her growth to that of other children of the same gender and age. Growth charts inform parents and doctors of a child's percentile; a child in the 90th percentile for height is taller than 90 percent of his peers. The KidsHealth website notes that there is no ideal percentile for any child, but that children's growth rate and percentile should stay fairly consistent over time.
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Warning
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Warning signs of potential health problems related to a child's weight and height are often found through a growth chart, such as a child dropping from a high height percentile down to a lower percentile in just one year or a child who is not gaining weight at the same rate she is growing taller. A child's doctor is able to provide more information about an ideal weight and height.
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References
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