What Is Growth?
Physical growth is defined as the increases in height and weight and other body changes that happen as kids mature. A child’s brain will grow the most during the first five years of life, reaching 90 percent of its final size. Growth also affects different parts of the body at different rates; the head reaches almost its entire size by age 1. Throughout childhood, a child’s body becomes more proportional to other parts of his/her body. Growth is complete between the ages of 16 and 18, at which time the growing ends of bones fuse.
What’s Normal?
The first year of life is a time of amazing change during which babies, on average, grow 10 inches (25 centimeters) in length and triple their birth weights.
Given all the growth that happens then, new parents might be surprised when their child doesn’t continue to grow so fast after the first year. But no child continues the rate of growth of infancy. After age 1, a baby’s growth in length slows quite a bit. By age 2, growth in height usually continues at a fairly steady rate of about 2½ inches (6 centimeters) per year until adolescence.
No child grows at a perfectly steady rate throughout this period of childhood, though. Weeks or months of slightly slower growth alternate with mini “growth spurts” in most children. Kids actually tend to grow a bit faster in the spring than during other times of the year!
A major growth spurt happens at the time of puberty, usually between 8 to 13 years of age in girls and 10 to 15 years in boys. Puberty lasts about 2 to 5 years. This growth spurt is associated with sexual development, which includes the appearance of pubic and underarm hair, the growth and development of sex organs, and in girls, the start of menstruation.
By the time girls reach age 15 and boys reach age 16 or 17, the growth of puberty has ended for most and they will have reached physical maturity.
What is the Average Height For A 13 Year Old?
The average height for a 13 year old boy worldwide is 5′3 and normally ranges from 5′1 to 5′5. On the metric scale, this would be 160 cm and 155 to 165. Now, height is different for everyone and since puberty is starting, height can be drastically different between different people.
Normal growth is categorized in a range used by pediatricians to gauge how a child is growing. The following are some average ranges of weight and height, based on growth charts developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Normal Heights for boys (range: 3% to 97%)
Age 1 year: 28-32 inches, mean: 76 cm (30 in)
Age 2 years: 33-37 inches, mean: 88 cm (35 in)
Age 3 years: 36-41 inches, mean: 95 cm (38 in)
Age 4 years: 38-44 inches, mean: 103 cm (41 in)
Age 5 years: 40-47 inches, mean: 110 cm (44 in)
Age 6 years: 43-50 inches, mean: 116 cm (46 in)
Age 7 years: 45-53 inches, mean: 121 cm (48 in)
Age 8 years: 47-55 inches, mean: 127 cm (51 in)
Age 9 years: 49-57 inches, mean: 132 cm (53 in)
Age 10 years: 51-59 inches, mean: 137 cm (55 in)
Age 11 years: 53-61 inches, mean: 143 cm (57 in)
Age 12 years: 54-64 inches, mean: 150 cm (60 in)
Age 13 years: 56-67 inches, mean: 156 cm (62 in)
Age 14 years: 57-70 inches, mean: 163 cm (65 in)
Age 15 years: 60-72 inches, mean: 169 cm (68 in)
Age 16 years: 62-73 inches, mean: 173 cm (69 in)
Age 17 years: 63-74 inches, mean: 68 inches
Age 18 years: 177 cm (71 in).
Normal Height for Girls (range: 3% to 97%)
Birth: 18.5-21.1 inches, mean: 50 cm (20 in)
Age 1 years: 27-31 inches, mean: 73 cm (29 in)
Age 2 years: 32-37 inches, mean: 85 cm (34 in)
Age 3 years: 35-40 inches, mean: 95 cm (38 in)
Age 4 years: 38-44 inches, mean: 103 cm (41 in)
Age 5 years: 40-47 inches, mean: 108 cm (43 in)
Age 6 years: 43-49 inches, mean: 115 cm (46 in)
Age 7 years: 45-52 inches, mean: 120 cm (48 in)
Age 8 years: 47-54 inches, mean: 125 cm (50 in)
Age 9 years: 49-56 inches, mean: 130 cm (52 in)
Age 10 years: 50-59 inches, mean: 138 cm (55 in)
Age 11 years: 52-62 inches, mean: 143 cm (57 in)
Age 12 years: 54-65 inches, mean: 150 cm (60 in)
Age 13 years: 57-66 inches, mean: 155 cm (62 in)
Age 14 years: 58-67 inches, mean: 158 cm (63 in)
Age 15 years: 59-68 inches, mean: 158 cm (63 in)
Age 16 years: 59-68 inches, mean: 159 cm (64 in)
Age 17 years: 60-68 inches, mean: 160 cm (64 in).
