Weight during growth and puberty
Not everyone grows and develops on the same schedule. However, teens do go through a period of faster growth. During puberty, the body begins making hormones that spark physical changes like faster muscle growth especially in guys, and spurts in height and weight gain in both guys and girls. Once these changes start, they continue for several years, where the average person can expect to grow as much as 10 inches or 25 centimeters during puberty before he or she reaches full adult height. Most girls and guys gain weight more rapidly during this time as the amounts of muscle, fat, and bone in their bodies changes. All that new weight gain can be perfectly fine as long as body fat, muscle, and bone are in the right proportion. Because some kids start developing as early as age 8 and some not until age 14 or so, it can be normal for two people who are the same height and age to have very different weights are hights. It can feel quite strange adjusting to suddenly feeling heavier or taller, so it is perfectly normal to feel self-conscious about weight during adolescence. A lot of people do this thing.
Figuring out fat using BMI
Experts have developed a way to help figure out if a person is in the healthy weight range for his or her height, which is called the body mass index, or BMI.
Body mass index is a formula that doctors use to estimate how much body fat a person has based on his or her weight and height. The BMI formula uses height and weight measurements to calculate a body mass index number. This number is then plotted on a chart, which tells a person whether he or she is underweight, average weight, at risk of becoming overweight, or is already overweight. Figuring out the body mass index is a little more complicated for teens than it is for adults. BMI charts for teens use percentile lines to help individuals compare their body mass index to those of a very large group of people the same age and gender. There are different body mass index charts for guys and girls under the age of 20. A person%26rsquo;s BMI number is plotted on the chart for their age and gender. Each body mass index chart has eight percentile lines for 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 85th, 90th, and 95th percentiles. A teen whose BMI is at the 50th percentile is close to the average of the age group, where teen above the 95th percentile is considered overweight. It is because 95% of the age group has a BMI less than he or she does. A teen below the 5th percentile is considered underweight, because 95% of the age group has a higher body mass index. To figure out your BMI, you could use the tools below. Before you start, you will need an accurate height and weight measurement. Bathroom scales and tape measures are not always precise, so the best way to get accurate measurements is by being weighed and measured at your doctor%26rsquo;s office or school
What does BMI tell us?
Although you can calculate BMI on your own, it's a good idea to ask your doctor, school nurse, or fitness counselor to help you figure out what it means. That's because a doctor can do more than just use BMI to assess a person's current weight. He or she can take into account where a girl or guy is during puberty and use BMI results from past years to track whether that person may be at risk for becoming overweight. Spotting this risk early on can be helpful because the person can then make changes in diet and exercise before he or she goes on to develop weight problem. People do not like looking overweight, but weight problems get more serious than just how person looks. People who are overweight as teens increase their risk of developing health problems, such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Being overweight as a teen also makes a person more likely to be overweight as an adult and adults who are overweight may develop other serious health conditions, such as heart disease. Although BMI can be a good indicator of a person%26rsquo;s body fat, it does not always tell the full story. Someone can have a high BMI because he or she has a large frame or a lot of muscle, like a bodybuilder or athlete, instead of excess fat. Likewise, a small person with a small frame may have a normal BMI but could still have too much body fat, so these are other good reasons to talk about your BMI with your doctor.
How to be sure if you are not too skinny or too fat?
If you think you've gained too much fat or are too skinny, a doctor should help you decide whether it is normal for you or whether you really have a weight problem. Your doctor has measured your height and weight over time and knows whether you are growing normally or not. If your doctor has a concern about your height, weight, or body mass index, he or she may ask questions about your health, physical activity and eating habits. Your doctor may also ask about your family background to find out if you have inherited traits that might make you taller, shorter, or a late bloomer. That is a person who develops later than other people the same age. The doctor can then put all this information together to decide whether you might have a weight or growth problem. If your doctor thinks your weight is not in a healthy range, you will probably get specific dietary and exercise recommendations. These recommendations will be based on your individual needs. Following a doctor%26rsquo;s or dietitian%26rsquo;s plan that is designed especially for you will work way better than following fad diets. For teens, fad diets or starvation plans can actually slow down growth and sexual development, and the weight loss usually does not last. Most teens who weigh less than other teens their age are just fine, just they may be going through puberty on a different schedule than some of their peers, and their bodies may be growing and changing at a different rate. Most underweight teens catch up in weight as they finish puberty during their later teen years and there is rarely a need to try to gain weight. In a few cases, teens can be underweight because of a health problem that needs treatment so if you feel tired or ill a lot, or if you have symptoms like a cough, stomachache, diarrhea, or other problems that have lasted for more than a week or 2, be sure to let your parents or your doctor know. Some teens are underweight because of eating disorders, like anorexia or bulimia, that require attention.
Genes and normal body weight
Heredity plays a role in body shape and what a person weighs, so people from different races, ethnic groups, and nationalities tend to have different body fat distribution. It is meaning they accumulate fat in different parts of their bodies or body composition, which is amounts of bone and muscle versus fat. However, genes are not destiny. No matter whose genes you inherit, you can have a healthy body and keep your weight at a level that is normal for you by eating right and being active as you wish. Genes are not the only things that family members may share although it is also true that unhealthy eating habits can be passed down. The eating and exercise habits of people in the same household probably have even greater effect than genes on a person%26rsquo;s risk of becoming overweight. If your family eats a lot of high-fat foods or snacks or does not get much exercise, you may tend to do the same, but the good news is these habits can be changed for the better. Even simple forms of exercise, such as walking, have huge benefits for a person%26rsquo;s health. It can be tough dealing with the physical changes our bodies go through during puberty, but at this time, more than any other, it is not a specific number on the scale that is important. It is more important to keep your body healthy, both inside and out. BMI is between 18.5 and 24.9 when person is normal weight. People whose BMI is within 18.5 to 24.9 possess the ideal amount of body weight. It is associated with living longest, the lowest incidence of serious ilness, as well as being perceived as more physically attractive people than persons with BMI in higher or lower ranges. It may be a good idea to check your waist circumference and keep it within the recommended limits. Weight, in the context of human body weight measurements in the medical sciences and in sports is used interchangeably with mass. It is rather than the correct technical definition of weight, and is thus expressed in units of mass, such as kilograms, kg, or weight, such as pounds, lb. In Britain, the unit stone or equivalent to 14 lb or 6.35 kg is commonly used as well. The average weight for male adults in the United States is about 76 to 83 kg or 168 to 183 lb. The average weight for male teenagers in the United States is about 45 to 64 kg or 99 to 141 lb. For female adults the average weight is 54 to 64 kg or 120 to 141 lb. For female teenagers the average weight is 45 to 57 kg or 100 to 126 lb. Weight is, of course, related to height, so people taller than average tend to be heavier as well then others.
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