Paediatric Growth Workbook

Growth & Puberty

What is 'normal' height?

Height in the normal population follows a Gaussian distribution, therefore:

  • 68% lie between +/- 1 SD of mean
  • 95% lie between +/- 2 SD of mean

Just 0.3% of children have heights below the 0.4th centile, and another 0.3% will be avive rge 99.6th centile (3 SD from the mean).


We use centiles to help show consistent growth in children but a single measurement can be hard to interpret.

Open Question

Take a look at a growth chart (link to RCPCH website) and comment on the variation in growth seen in a boy on their 4th birthday.


What do you notice? What might make you think that this height was expected for this child? What other information would be useful.