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Here’s a table of average heights for youth at different ages
Average heights
| Age | 2 years |
6 years |
8 years |
10 years |
12 years |
14 years |
16 years |
18 years |
| height (cm) | ||||||||
| Girls | 88 | 115 | 128 | 138 | 156 | 162 | 165 | 165 |
| Boys | 89 | 117 | 128 | 141 | 155 | 168 | 174 | 178 |
At two years of age, a child measures, on average, about half his or her final adult height.
Example: If you were 85 cm tall at age 2, you could be close to
85 x 2 = 170 cm as an adult.
Fill in the predictions for the adult heights of these 2 year olds:
| Name | Height at 2 years | Predicted adult height |
| Jake | 91 cm. | |
| Jasmine | 87 cm. |
Do you think you will grow to be above or below the average? Why?
What if you don’t know your height when you were 2 years old?
You can try to predict your adult height, using the table below and your present height. The table below shows how close you are to your adult height at different ages.
Percentage of adult height at different ages
| Age now | 7 years |
8 years |
9 years |
10 years |
11 years |
12 years |
13 years |
14 years |
15 years |
16 years |
17 years |
18 years |
| % of adult height | ||||||||||||
| Girls | 74 | 78 | 81 | 84 | 90 | 94 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| Boys | 69 | 72 | 75 | 79 | 82 | 87 | 90 | 94 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 |
To calculate how tall you might end up, follow these steps:
- Measure your height now, in cm.
- Multiply this figure by 100.
- Divide it by the number that is under the age of your nearest
birthday.
Your predicted adult height:
Example: An 11-year-old boy measures 142 cm tall. Multiply by 100 to get 14,200. Then, divide by 82, which gives 173.2 cm as his predicted adult height.
A word of warning: Results can vary a great deal, and may not be accurate for everyone.
Brainstorm with your group:Think of reasons why this method may not be accurate for some children and list them here.
Reproduced and adapted with permission from CensusAtSchool – U.K.
Data source: Statistics Canada
