Ask Dr Hilary Jones your questions about children’s growth

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This Q&A is now closed. You can find answers here.

Children’s growth can be an indicator of health and wellbeing, but it can be confusing to understand and difficult to keep on top of - particularly once your child is no longer a baby or toddler. With this in mind, More Than Height would like to help answer any questions you have about your child’s growth, and have Dr Hilary Jones on hand to help.

Here’s what Dr Hilary Jones has to say: “Regularly measuring your child’s height and weight should be a routine throughout their childhood. It’s a useful way to keep on top of their physical development and if you suspect anything is wrong, for example they’re wearing out their clothes before they’re outgrowing them, then it’s a signal to speak to your doctor to get everything checked out.

For more advice on childhood growth and tips on how to accurately measure your child visit www.morethanheight.com.”

More information on Dr Hilary Jones can be found below:
“Dr Hilary Jones, GP, is a familiar face on TV having served as ITV’s Health Editor on TV a.m., Daybreak and Good Morning Britain since 1989. During his career he has worked as a medical officer on the most isolated island in the world, Tristan da Cunha, and accompanied flying doctor services in the Australian outback and in Lesotho.

He has covered breaking medical news from around the world and been involved many public health campaigns. He loyally supports a host of health charities including London Air Ambulance, Stroke Association, British Heart Foundation, Breakthrough Breast Cancer and Diabetes UK.

He continues to work part time as a GP and remains a passionate advocate of medical education for all.“

So, whether you’d like to know how often you should measure your child’s growth or you have questions on what you should look out for to see if anything could be wrong, post your questions for Dr Hilary Jones below to be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £150 voucher for a store of their choice (from a list).

We’ll be selecting questions to be answered by by Dr Hilary Jones and posting responses ASAP.

We’ll also be hosting a live Q&A on Facebook ahead of Children’s Growth Awareness Day. Join the live Q&A session with Dr Hilary and The Inspirational Edit’s Angela Milnes, a mum of one and award-winning parenting blogger on 17 September.

Thanks and good luck

MNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

How often should you weigh and measure?
My kids are both around the 91st centile for height and weight- is that okay?

My 7 yo DS is on the short side (about 9th centile) and also on the rounder side, about 75th centile adjusted for his height. How worried should I be? How can I help him to eat more proportionately when he wants to eat more than his big brother?

"Should I be concerned that my child looks 2-3 years younger than her peers, and should I refer her to our GP?" Context: my DD has just turned 7 but she really is tiny compared to her peers (her height is approx 108cm) although physically she seems in proportion for her size. I am only 5'3" and her dad is about 5'7". My sister only reached 5" and has a smaller than average daughter too. Given our family 'history' should I really be worried, or should we just accept this is just the card she's been dealt by DNA/nature?

I've read that sugar can inhibit growth and development. Is this true and if so how much is too much for preschoolers and young children?

My daughter is 16 and around 5ft 9 will she still be growing more or is that what height she will be now x

At what age do boys generally hit puberty as i know being a girl that you can hit it earlier? But my 11 yo seems to be acting more and more "teenagery"? Can boys hit it slightly earlier too? He's moody lol

My son was born IUGR due to me having Antiphosphilipid syndrome. He has always been shorter than average and he is now 12 and now 133cm. my 10 year old is slightly taller. It is getting more noticeable now that all his friends are shooting up. He also still has a lot of his baby teeth - is there a link? My question really is would him being born IUGR mean that he will not reach his average height ? I am 5ft 6ins and his dad is 5ft 7ins.

Daughter is 15, very slim and 159cm tall. She has size 5 feet so is bigger than me and taller. I wondered if her feet have stopped growing as she has been the same size for over a year, and will she get any taller?

My son is the shortest in his class. Is is likely that he may overtake his peers as they age or does 6 year olds height predict their adult height?

1. Both my children son and daughter take daily steroid in halers for asthma. Does taking this medication affect their weight or height. They are average weight and height towards the bottom of the scale however they themselves comment on how slim they are and they are always asking me if they will change body shape, grow muscles more and when will they start and stop growing.

1. My daughter takes medication Sumatriptan and others for severe migraine will this medication have an affect on her growth. Weight and height.

They are both fit and well. They are very active so naturally slim.

My (very nearly) 11 year old son has always been pretty tall (currently 152 cm) and slim with quite big feet. I git him new school shoes a couple of weeks ago, and his left foot was a size 7, but his right foot only a size 5.5. I know it’s fault normal to have one foot a bit smaller than the other, but 1.5 sizes is a big difference! Will his smaller foot catch up?

My 12 year old girl appears to be walking inwards -should I get her referred to physio?

Hello, My daughters are vegetarians. The youngest is 14. Are there any vitamin/ mineral supplements you think are worth taking? Also the same daughter is an avid gymnast and is happy that her periods haven’t started yet. Her sister started at 13. What age should I wait to to take my 14YO to the docs about this? No sign of losing interest in gym she says she wants to stay ‘small’.

How many centimetres shall I expect a 8-9 year old to grow per year?

My son is now 13 and is obsessed, worried & anxious that he isn't growing like his fellow classmates - he's now the smallest in the class, girls included. He was born small (5,10) so was always on the 9th centile as a baby/toddler. Both of us (M&D) are on the shorter side of average so I was never expecting him to be big/tall. He's really quite slim/skinny - although not unhealthily so. Eats like a horse - always hungry! I don't think the BMI calculator is relative to children (I don't even think it's that relevant to adults, as we're all different, but understand that it works as a general guide). Is there a measure I can use to reassure him that he's 'normal' as he thinks he is anything but, to a point where he gets upset thinking there is 'something wrong with him'?

Hi my daughter has just turned 13 (in August). She is in year 9 at secondary school and doesn't seem to have grown much in the past couple of years. She is the youngest of 4 children, with two of her siblings also being girls. She has not yet started her menstrual cycle but then her sisters were quite late starters (one at 14 and one at 15). My main concern is my daughter is overweight - she often makes unhealthy choices and I have tried talking to her about weight but don't want to make it an issue (I am overweight but do eat healthy meals - it's the snacks that are my problem)! Similarly, I feel that she will hopefully grow some more and become less overweight at she develops more. Would appreciate advice on what more I could do to help her make sensible choices.

Hy....I got the result, that my child is outside on the grow chart. It shows she is on the upper side of the grow chart.
But it was not mentioned why....Why?
She is taller and also heavier....and she was always on the top of the chart since she was born.
Are we really should concentrate on grow as much? Is it not because of genetics? And also if the grow is in one line, like I said she was always on the top side of the grow chart. She is growing constantly on the same line. I do not think it is a problem. Is it? Or someone should worry when the grow is rapid?

My 7yo daughter often complains at night that her legs are achey, specifically her shins and behind her knees. Dr Google says growing pains but is that really a thing? And does it sound like what she's got? She's otherwise healthy.

I'm 4ft 10 and had growth hormone injections growing up but hubby is 6ft 2! Will my son be able to average out?

What percentile is my son. He is 9. In February he was 134 cm tall. In August he was 140 cm tall. He weighs 26kg.

My 8 year old son is the smallest in his year (between 9th and 25th centile). But he also has bladder developmental delay (only just stopped daytime wetting, and still not dry at night). Also, his hair has always been ridiculously slow-growing, and he is quite immature for his age (although academically bright). Could any of this be linked?

My eldest son is 16 years but has profound medical and complex special needs (he has a gastrostomy). Most of his intake is specialist liquid feed, but he's a tall skinny thing. We use a number of supplementary and sweet treats, but he struggles to keep weight on. His limbs are so skinny if we didn't know he was getting enough nutrition we'd worry. Even the dieticians scratch their heads. Any tips/ideas are always gratefully accepted.

My son has juvenile arthritis, he is 7, and is one of the smaller boys in his class, we have a additive free, organic diet, and this seems to help, any long term medical advise on diet, playing exercise, football (which I` have so far tried to discourage) are there any other food groups, exercise which will help to lead a 'normal' childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

My three year old has a nighttime cough for the last few weeks , but rarely coughs in the day and seems well. Should I take her to the doctors?

my DD is 9,5 yo and has begin to develop breast and some very light arpit hair. Is it time to expect her period and how should can i prepare her?