Child Has Gained Thirteen Pounds. Worried About Weight. Is It Normal?

Posted on Wed, 23 Oct 2013

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 23 Oct 2013 Answered on

Fri, 8 Nov 2013 Last reviewed on

Question : My 14 year old grandson has gained 13 pounds in 3 months, is that normal for a teenager? In July he went through some bad times with his father and moved in with his mother. He seems to really happy now but I am really worried about his weight. He went from 171 to 184

Answered by Dr. E Venkata Ramana (40 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Not normal. Evaluation is needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hi,

Thank you for your query on Healthcare Magic.

Gaining 13 pounds weight in 3 months duration is not normal for a teenager.

And the normal upper limit of weight for a 14 years old boy is 169 pounds as per the CDC growth charts. So the present weight of 184 pounds weight is abnormal and outside of the normal range.

The cause for his excess weight should be evaluated with clinical examination and investigations.

During pubertal age group, there may be disturbances in hormonal homeostasis, the most common being thyroid hormonal abnormality.

Thyroid hormonal abnormality can be ruled out by doing blood test for thyroid profile.

The other causes for excess weight gain are sedentary life style, lack of sufficient physical activity, consumption of high calorie diet and junk foods, genetic causes, and other hormonal problems.

Therefore I suggest you to consult the pediatrician to examine and investigate your grandson.

Hope I have answered your query, if you have any clarification please let me know.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar