How Tall Will Your Child Be?

Remember when our parents had us stand up against a wall and make a mark with a pencil to see how much we had grown? And then wondering exactly how tall we would eventually become?

A child's adult height is influenced by a number of factors, including genetics, sex, and overall health and nutrition. Genetics and the child's gender account for 70% of what goes into deciding how tall a child will be. The other 30% comes from environmental factors, such as nutrition, exercise, and any underlying health problems.

There are a number of methods for predicting adult height. Probably the most accurate is the technique employed by pediatricians and endocrinologists. Using a reference entitled Radiographic Atlas of Skeletal Development of the Hand and Wrist written by Greulich and Pyle , a reasonable good estimate of a youngster's height at maturity can be made knowing the child's  bone age and chronological age.

Another approach is based on the fact that most healthy children will grow to a height that is somewhere between their mother's and father's heights. Using these factors, this method predicts adult height by adding the parents' heights together, dividing by two, then adding three inches for a boy (or subtracting three for a girl). While this method is fairly accurate, the child's ultimate height can vary by as much as five inches above or below this calculation.

The method you are about to use was developed by Drs. Harry Khamis and Alex Roche working at Wright State University and published in Pediatrics , the official publication of The American Academy of Pediatrics in 1994. These researchers developed a method that eliminated the need for a bone age x-ray. The "Khamis-Roche Method" is fairly accurate (within an inch and a half of actual growth) but is only reliable in children who have no other known medical problems.

This height calculator is not intended to replace your doctor's advice. It is extremely important that you share with your child's pediatrician any concerns you have about your youngster's growth. This way, he or she can follow your child's development carefully and recommend further evaluation when necessary.