Healthy Weight Range

By Dr. Russell Louis

How do you find out a healthy weight range for your teen? Good question. And because everyone has a different body type, it’s not a real easy question to answer. Also, teens’ bodies don’t all develop at the same age.

The average person can expect to grow around ten inches during puberty before they reach full adult height. Most teens gain weight more rapidly during puberty because the muscle, fat, and bone in their bodies changes. It is healthiest when body fat, muscle, and bone are in the right proportion.

Don’t get too hung up on what others weigh. For example, some kids start developing before their ten, while others may not develop until their a teenager. Therefore, it’s not out of the ordinary for two teens who are the same height and age to have very different weights.

Height and weight discrepancies often lead to self-esteem problems as it might feel weird to have to suddenly adjust to being heavier or taller.

It’s important to remind your child that this is not abnormal, and in fact, is quite normal.

Teens who go through puberty at a later age are often skinny, but again, this is not out of the ordinary, and they will catch up to their peers as they age.

So, how do you assess your child’s weight? One very helpful tool is to determine the body mass index (BMI). This is a number calculated from a child's weight and height. BMI is an inexpensive and easy-to-perform method of screening for weight categories that may lead to health problems.

For children and teens, BMI is age- and sex-specific and is often referred to as BMI-for-age.

A terrific BMI calculating resource can be found at healthy weight range.