How Tall Will My Child Be?

How tall would your child grow? As a parent, it’s natural to be curious about how tall my child will be as an adult. The height of a child is largely determined by genetics. Though other factors such as nutrition, exercises, child’s health condition, gender, and the mother’s health during pregnancy also contribute to the height of the child.

Scientific studies (1) suggest that a child’s height is mostly influenced by genes and gender. These two factors contribute to 70% of growth and the rest 30 % is based on nutritional factors and environmental factors. At times, diseases, illness and certain medications also inhibit growth or lead to shorter stature at the age of 18. The child might be as tall as the average height of the parents. Infants and toddlers grow fast and subsequently the rate of growth descends. It again picks up during puberty. In girls, it levels off at 15 years and boys at 18 years.

A child height calculator predicts your child's height using certain parameters such as gender, the child's current weight and height, the parents’ height and so on. There are a number of methods, such as Khamis-Roche and skeletal age, to calculate the accurate height of a child. R for Rabbit’s predict child’s future height using Khamis-Roche method. This method is 90% accurate. This means your child could be a bit taller or shorter than the predicted estimates. Based on the predictions you can take corrective actions if need be or consult a doctor, change the child’s diet, or include some exercises in their routine. Khamis-Roche height method uses the child’s gender, current height and weight and the height of the parents.

General Height Guidelines

Most parents use the height and weight chart to track their child's growth and development. The chart helps the parents to take necessary steps if the child is not on par with the average weight and height of age . Here are the guidelines for your child's height:

Child’s physical age	Height (in cm)
0 to 12 months	Grows by 25cm approximately
1 to 2 years	Increases by 13cm approximately
2 to 3 years	Grows 9cm approximately every year. Most children double their birth height by the time they are four years old or reach atleast 100cm.
3 years to puberty	6cm every year. Puberty causes rapid growth spurts that vary from one child to another.

In the US, the average height of males (2) at 20 years and above is 175.7cm ( 5’ 9½”) and females is 161.8cm or (5’ 3½”).

How To measure your child’s current height?

• Let your child stand on a flat area with shoes removed and their back against the wall.
• Their heels, buttocks, shoulders, and head should be touching the surface of the wall. Let him look straight.
• Hold a scale or a book along the tip of his head and mark the point on the wall.
• Ask your child to stand straight and not move their head up and down while you are marking their height.
• Now measure the height from base to the mark using a measuring tape.

What is Khamis-Roche Method?

Developed by Khamis and Roche, this method is used for kids from four to 17 years. After several years of research, Dr.Khamis and Dr.Roche have found that the following factors contributed to the growth of the child. (4)

• Gender
• Mid-parental height
• Child's current height
• Child's current weight
• Skeletal age

These five parameters helped to predict the height the child would reach as an adult. The skeletal age required an x-ray of the left wrist and hand, so this parameter was eliminated from the Khamis calculator.

The older Khamis Roche method doubled the height of the child at two years. But this method was proven unreliable, especially for girls. So, Dr.Roche modified the equation on the basis of the results from the Fels Longitudinal Study (5). The new equations of height formula are proven to be accurate.

• Males: 22.7 + 1.37 times height at 2 years
• Females: 25.0 +1.17 times height at 2 years

These early methods help pediatricians and parents to estimate a child’s adult height. But they were not accurate . So, a new statistical model was eventually developed based on the child’s gender, age, current height and weight of the child and the height of the parents from the large longitudinal study. This method is called the Khamis Roche Method. It can be applied only to kids over the age of 4. This method provides the table of the coefficient of current height of the child, the coefficient of weight of the child, coefficient of average parental height and Beta coefficient. The height of the child at 18 years can be predicted by obtaining the coefficient from a table, multiplied by their corresponding measurement and added together with beta coefficient. These coefficients are separate for girls and boys.

Limitations Of Khamis Roche Method

1. Khamis Roche method can be applied only to healthy Caucasian children.
2. This Caucasian study did not have participants from other races; the study was strictly based on Caucasian kids born to Caucasian parents.
3. Khamis Roche method used to predict the height of children of 4 years and more.
4. There is still a margin of error of 1.7 inches for girls and 2.1 inches for boys in predicting the height of your child at 18 years.
5. Estimation of child height below 4 years of age can be inaccurate.

Disclaimer:While the calculators might give you an indicative figure of your child's height, they are not 100% accurate in predicting the height. Besides, children grow at different rates, some grow rapidly while some are slow. The best thing you can do is to provide balanced nutrition to your child, get them involved in physical activities and make sure they are healthy.

If you are concerned that your child is not growing as per the standards, then you should consult a health practitioner.