I know gymnasts are small..but

[gymmom14]

How big is your gymnast? My 10 year old daughter seems so small compared to everyone in her school class yet she seems average for her gymnastics team. She is about 54 inches.

[mariposamama]

I just used this cool calculator to figure out DDs percentiles. She is 37lbs and 43.75in. 8th percentile for weight and 25th percentile for height.

Children's Growth Chart Percentiles Calculator

Maybe if we all use that calculator we can get a better idea.

[flippymonkeysmom]

My dd was always really tall for her age. I wonder if gymnastics does actually slow that down though. Before she did so much gymnastics she was literally off the growth chart for height - now she is in the 67th percentile (still tall but closer to average) and her weight is the 50th percentile.

[Shawn]

At 6 years and 7 months:your child is 52 pounds, and that is
at the 69th percentile for weight.
your child is 49 inches, and that is
at the 83rd percentile for height.


She definitely looks older than 6.

[mom2kazkids]

OK I went off the growth chart that Mariposamama posted and here is where my DD falls.

At 7 years and 4 months:


your child is 41.5 pounds, and that is
at the 5th percentile for weight. your child is 43.5 inches, and that is
at less than the 3rd percentile for height.

There is one other level 4 that is smaller than her and she is a year younger.

Barb

[Gymmonkeymomma]

First, my oldest. Gymnastics has not slowed her growth. She has been in rec classes since age 4, and on team since 7 yrs old. Last yr alone she grew 4.5 inches.
At 11 years and 4 months:

your child is 95 pounds, and that is at the 69th percentile for weight. your child is 60 inches, and that is at the 78th percentile for height

This is what it says for Little Monkey, who was a 29 weeker preemie, birthweight of 2lbs12oz.
At 7 years and 10 months:

your child is 49 pounds, and that is at the 21st percentile for weight. your child is 47 inches, and that is at the 9th percentile for height.

[canadiangymmom]

My daughter is finally a full 46 inches! She's 9.5 years old (10 in October)

This is another fun link.

Height Prediction Calculator

This one predicts that Rayna will be 4'10 when fully grown. Same prediction her pediatrician gave.

Canadian gym mom

[Shawn]

That predicted DD's full height at 5'8".

[rbw]

My child has been consistently just below the 25th percentile curve on the CDC growth charts during her eight years in gymnastics, and I suppose she's fairly typical for her team. (Her smallest and most talented teammate quit the sport to play basketball.)





For those who might happen to be interested:

• Collegiate and elite gymnasts certainly tend to be small, but they may not be as tiny as you'd think:
• The two NCAA teams near my home feature gymnasts who range in height from 4-11 to 5-10; these gymnasts average around 5 feet 3 inches.
• Elite gymnasts (or perhaps those on top NCAA teams--often former elites) might tend to be smaller than that group of collegiate gymnasts, but it's also true that the many of the elites haven't reached adult height; in particular, whether it's due to actual selection for small stature or due to rigorous training, female gymnasts who train long hours may have both a reduction in growth potential and be rather late in achieving full adult height (their skeletal age tends to be a couple of years behind their chronological age). They may experience catch-up growth after they retire. (For example, if you see Carly Patterson listed as 5-0, that was her height when she last competed, not her adult height.)
• It takes a lot of training to produce much of a growth effect: Adolescents who train 15 or fewer hours per week don't typically show menstrual disturbances or delays in entering puberty, but 18 hours of athletic training each week is capable of attenuating growth.
• Good references include:

Georgopoulos, NA, et al. 2004. Growth and skeletal maturation in male and female artistic gymnasts. J Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 89(9):4377-4382
Theodoropoulos A, et al. 2005. Delayed but normally progressed puberty is more pronounced in artistic compared with rhythmic elite gymnasts due to the intensity of training. J Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 90(11):6022-6027

• Here's a link to the CDC growth chart:

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nhanes/growthcharts/set2/chart%2008.pdf

[flippymonkeysmom]

Thanks for all the good info rbw. I know lots of college gymnasts who are on the taller side. I thought I had read somewhere that the average height of an Olympic gymnast was about 4'10". I don't worry about the growth thing. My pediatrician said my dd will most likely be about 5'8" - so even if it did stunt it a little she would still be tall enough, lol. My dd never had any elite aspirations so her height never was a factor - aside from her long legs making certain things harder to do.