CDC Growth Charts

Calloway,

How did you get those numbers? I was unable to figure it out. My son is 14 years, 3 months and he is 5'11 1/2", 165 lbs. What do you come up with for him?

That would be one big boy Callaway. My son is projected to be around 6'2" tall and weigh around 210lbs. He's 12 now and won't turn 13 until next January. He's currently around 5'6" tall and weighs around 140lbs.

A few years ago my son's doctor projected his height to be somewhere between 5'11" and 6'4" tall. Somewhere in the middle sounds about right to me. Supposedly you have x-rays taken of bones in your hand or wrist to determine how much growing, if any, a person has left.

Jason

AgentDad,

I crunched some numbers and estimated your son's height to be around 6'4" tall and his weight to be around 210lbs based on his stature and weight today.

These are projections assuming your boy stays in the percentiles he's currently in until he's finished growing. In other words, it's not an exact science.

Jason

Thanks FlippJ!

How do you calculate these projections?

AgentDad, you're welcome!

cong, no real calculations being done... I'm just following the height placement (i.e. current percentile) up the chart.

Here is a site that allows you to enter your son or daughters current height and they will calculate a "projection" for you: Height Calculator

That particular calculation format can't predict individuals who are over the 97th percentile, which is where Calloway & AgentDad's boys are. There are two other calculations that can be used on that site. Click HERE and scroll down that page to see those.

Jason

P.S. Those calculators are NOT from the CDC web site.

FlippJ,
Thanks for posting those. I'll go with the growth curve based one and hope he exceeds it by a bit. I grew early and my wife's family grew late so I'm hoping he gets both the early growth and late growth and exceeds the estimates. In the meantime I'll go with the one giving the rosiest prediction.

I've also tended to go with the height we measure in the evening to make the predictions but his morning height is probably more indicative and that is as much as 3/4" taller. He's a little over 5'3" in the evening and about 5'4" in the morning.

The genetic potential one may not be too accurate for us as my gene pool is pretty mixed when it comes to height with my mother being 5'7" and my father, according to my birth certificate being a jockey. My wife is fairly short and had short parents but her youngest sister and brother are above average height. The younger kids got fed better.

Callaway,
They are interesting and probably fairly accurate when taken over the whole population. When you try to apply them to any one kid then they don't necessarily mean much, especially as you get out to the lowest and highest percentiles. I'm guessing that they are reasonably accurate for my son simply because he has closely tracked the 75th percentile very closely for several years now. However, the next few years as he goes through puberty are the years where anything can happen. He could shoot up or his growth could slow. Who knows?

AgentDad

Just got back on and it looks like Jason answered your question. Anyway, my son has been in the 95-99th percentile for weight and height for most of his life so hopefully he will stay there. But you never know. I grew 3in. and gained 60lbs. my sophamore year in college. Sure surprized my mom!!

R.

Mine is the same scenario as CADad's. I grew early and the boys in my wife's family grew late - I, too, am hoping he gets both. I was 6'2" in the 6th grade and doctors were predicting I would be around 7 foot tall. Guess how tall I am now? ...... that's right, 6'2"!!! I never grew another inch. Growth plates and science can be wrong. It certainly gave him some encouragement that statistically he should be a good sized young man.

This got me in trouble at home and hopefully didn't crush son #2's spirit. I thought it would be okay to share the results at the dinner
table last night. Son 1 is 14 and 5-9 now so that projected out to 6-1, son 3 is 6 and 4-4 now and that falls in the 97+ percentile, or at least 6-3, son 2 is 10 and is 4-8. That projeted to 5-10. Needless to say he was a little down. I told him that anything bigger than me (5-9) he should be happy with.

Here's a method that I found that is supposed to be more accurate than the rest. It is the Khamsis-Roche method.

Height predictor

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
Here's a method that I found that is supposed to be more accurate than the rest. It is the Khamsis-Roche method.

Height predictor

For the fun of it, I put in the numbers for my college freshman into that one CADad ....

It predicts he'll shrink 1 inch by the time he reaches adulthood.

I hope they are not accurate for my son;s sake

These predictors are not always accurate (depending if you happen to get your growth early or late, amoung other factors). I entered my son's height and weight from when he entered high school (14 1/2 yrs old). It predicted he would be 6'0". He is now 18 1/2 yrs old and 6'4".

gtmom,
It predicted my 14yo to have an adult height of 6'0". I hope it makes the same mistake with my son as it did with yours.

None of these are perfect and you have to take into account any special factors such as early growth, etc.

HHH,
Don't forget to check male and not female.

I should have been a tough case since my mother was fairly tall and my father was a jockey. I put in my height and weight at 15 and it got my final height right although I am shrinking.

Oddly, that thing gave my son's final height as his current height, and he just turned 15!!

"Boy!! You grow another danged inch and I'm gonna call the CDC!!"

When my son was 13 in the 7th grade he was 5'6 and weighed 190. I used the same charts mentioned above and it calculated him to be 5'9 1/2. By the time he entered the 9th grade he was 5'11 200 lbs. Now he is a soph 15 turns 16 next month. He is 6'1 190 lbs. I guess what Im saying is there is no way to predict growth. Im 5'9 my wife is 5'6. I have three brothers one is 5'8 one is 5'9 and one is 6'1. My brother who is 5'8 has a son that played D-1 baseball and is 6'3. My brother that is 6'1 has a son that is 5'9. Doesnt make a whole lot of sense does it? When my son was 11 he hit a ball off his shin and we had to have xrays. The doctor told us then by looking at the pictures of the growth plates that he would be a big boy. I guess he was right. I personally just feel that there is just no real way to tell. Only time will tell. I had a kid a few years ago that played for me that was 6'5. His dad was 5'7 and mom was too. Who knows.

A lot of it has to do with how close you live to power lines and transformer boxes.

My Son is 13 1/2 Currently 6'2 Very Athletic (Hard Throwing Lefty) He worries that he will be to tall.. The Growth charts don't work for Him Cause He's beyound the 97% range

I wish I had that problem when I was 13..

quote:

Originally posted by CADad:
HHH,
Don't forget to check male and not female.

Everyone assumes that if a program figures out something for you, it must be accurate and complex ... we individuals who actually develop software for a living get a hard laugh about that one.

Regardless of whether you checked male or female, the program had him shrinking, not growing....... oops !!!!

HHH,
That's why I had the on there. The literature I've read show that it is accurate within 1.5 inches on 95% of the population. First of all 1.5 inches on either side is a fairly big spread and second of all the 1 in 20 who don't come within that makes for a pretty large group overall. Most of the kids haven't finished growing yet so it is only the exceptions who have beat it on the high side who are going to post.

IMO who cares how big your son is going to be? Does it matter in the grand scheme of life? I think not. If they are over 6'2" then they will be faced with many difficulties in life such as being comfortable on an airplane or in a stadium seat at certain arenas or movie theaters. That may end up being far more important in the long run. Instead of paying so much attention to how big they may end up being maybe it would be wise to pay attention to what you have control over such as what type of person he will grow up to be. Now is the time that you can effectively help your son learn what is important and believe me, how big he will end up is nowhere near the top of the list.

I had to go to http://www.teengrowth.com because my son was over the 97% range at 12 yrs., 136 lbs and 5'-8". This other growth calculator asks for the mom (5'-5") and dad's height (6'-0"), too. It calculated my son to be 6'-3" with a 1.5" range either way. My son's pediatrician estimated him to get to be 6'-2" when he was 2 yrs. old with a 2" range either way...so, at the very least, the predictions are pretty consistant. Now only time will tell. Anyhow, try this web site if your kid is off the charts with the other estimators. By the way, is there some magic height for baseball players? Is 6'-3" in the right range?

My son was always off the charts height wise, but he wasn't the tallest kid in school. There was always someone taller, especially in middle school. I look back at the class pictures, and there were always 3 kids taller. Funny thing happened though. He was 6 foot entering high school. He was 6'5" at graduation. He is now a 20 year old junior RHP at a top 25 school down south and has grown 2 more inches. He is 6'7". There is nothing in our family history that would ever lead us to this height. Mother is 5'7" and Dad is 6'. I don't know if any formula really is acurate. All the height in the world won't make up for talent and work ethic.

Here's another one to check out:

http://athena.usask.ca/growthutility/

Flipp,
Thanks for the link. Looks like my son is just past his PHV. I like the answer this one gives.