Does Losing Weight Make You Taller – A person’s height and weight go hand in hand, and many believe that if someone who is overweight when they lose it, they will be a few inches taller, is it true that losing weight makes you taller? But this actually depends on how many pounds you lose, if you only lose 2 or 3 pounds, of course there will be no effect whatsoever on changing your height.
However, studies show that marginal height gain is seen in those who lose weight significantly. That is, if you can lose weight significantly, then your height will increase by several inches.
To find out more about this, keep reading until it’s finished!
Does Losing Weight Increase Height?
Losing weight can indeed make you taller, it works in two ways:
First: Being overweight during your growing years can affect your height. Teenagers who experience continuous weight gain can cause health problems such as obesity. Obesity really affects height in a bad direction, it can even cause other health problems such as heart disease and diabetes. So, excessive body fat can be an obstacle to your growth, including preventing maximum height when you are an adult.
Second: Adults will not be able to grow taller naturally because the growth plates are mature and no longer developing. But a slender body will certainly make you look taller. In addition, being overweight will put more pressure and burden on the spine, and of course this will make you shorter than you should be. When you lose weight significantly, it means you release pressure on the spine making you appear a little taller. Even so, the increase in height due to you being able to lose weight is very small, at most it’s only about 1.5 inches.
How to Determine Overweight
Does weight affect height, and does losing weight make you taller? this is a question and has been studied by many health experts. Calculating weight has used a different formula, as well as calculating height. The most well-known method of calculation is to find out the body mass index (BMI).
BMI in measuring total body fat uses the metric system by dividing your weight in kilograms by the square of your height in meters. To find out if you are underweight, normal weight, or overweight you can use the BMI score. The BMI score is also useful in measuring and identifying health risks related to your weight.
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What is the ideal weight for your height? To find out this, we can use the BMI score and below is how to calculate BMI.
This is the BMI formula for measuring weight relative to height.
- BMI (US units) = (weight (lb) ÷ height² (in)) x 703
- BMI (Metric units) = weight (kg) ÷ height² (m)
Then you can compare what your BMI score is with the ideal body weight standard for a certain height according to what has been set by WHO. So, later you will know where you are classified, whether your weight is normal, underweight or overweight.
| Category | BMI score |
| Severely underweight | <16 |
| Moderately underweight | 16-16.9 |
| Mildly underweight | 17-18.4 |
| Normal | 18.5-24.9 |
| Overweight | 25-29.9 |
| Moderately obese | 30-34.9 |
| Severely obese | 35-40 |
| Morbidly obese | >40 |
The table above is a table for adults, while children and adolescents cannot be used as a guide with the table because they are still on growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses gender and age in calculating BMI for those with age 2 years 20 years.
Percentiles in the CDC’s BMI chart are a comparison of measurements between boys and girls of the same sex and age.
- If the child’s percentile falls below 5% he/she is underweight.
- If the percentile exist between 5% and 84.9%, he/she is having a healthy weight for his/her height.
- If the child drops between 85% and 95%, he/she is at risk of being overweight.
- However, if the percentile is above 95%, he/she is considered overweight.
7 Effective Ways to Lose Weight to Increase Height
For those of you who want to increase your height by losing weight, pay attention to the following ways. These ways make you understand that losing weight make you taller. Lets go to pay attention!
1. Commitment is key
Commitment is important in losing your weight. Without effort and hard work, you will not easily be able to lose weight significantly. Set your weight loss goal to be taller, and stick to this commitment on your weight loss journey.
2. Practice swimming
Does swimming increase your height? No, but swimming regularly over the years really helps to grow you in a healthy state so that your growth is maximized. But for weight, swimming is one of the most important sports in burning lots of calories for your weight loss.
Swimming can be healthy, strengthen muscles, keep the body slim. Swimming is a sport that can lengthen your spine if you are still growing, and this will increase your weight well. So, don’t forget to add swimming to the list of sports that you have to play.
3. Eat more greens
The next way to lose weight and increase height is to consume green vegetables, fruits, nuts, all of these vegetables are high in nutrition and low in calories so they can’t make you fat. These foods also make you full quickly without any supply of calories in your body.
At the same time, for your weight loss process to be easy and successful, it is also important to avoid certain foods such as salt, caffeine and sugar.
4. Stay away from processed foods
Next you can lose weight and increase your height by staying away from processed foods. Processed foods have added sugar, some are added salt and preservatives to keep food durable. This is a substance that is harmful to health when consumed in large quantities.
If you are struggling to lose weight and gain height, you should avoid these foods. So instead, you can choose home-cooked food as a snack. Home-cooked meals include boiled sweet potatoes, boiled corn, roasted cassava and others.
5. Increase your protein intake
Protein is an important mineral in the formation of body cells and muscle tissue. You should not prevent yourself from protein because its role for health is very large.
You can increase protein intake and reduce carbohydrate intake which can fatten the body. Among the protein-rich foods are oatmeal, whey protein, quinoa, nuts and these are important foods in a weight loss program.
Among processed foods that you should stay away from and avoid are white bread, wheat flour, these foods are very low in fiber and easily get stuck in the intestines because they are difficult to move, if this happens it can build up bacteria and become poison. You should replace white bread with whole wheat bread and white flour with whole wheat flour. Not only does it enrich dietary fiber, but whole grain foods can make you full quickly.
6. Try cycling
Cycling is a favorite sport of many people, you can try it if you are in a program to lose weight and increase height. Just like swimming, cycling can burn quite a lot of body calories especially if you pedal fast. This can also make it easier for you to gain height. Just like swimming, cycling is a great stretching exercise to make your bones stretch and appear taller.
7. Do aerobics
Aerobics is a physical exercise to burn calories and improve fitness. Aerobic exercise not only keeps you fit and healthy but also stretches your joints.
This exercise not only burns a lot of calories but also stimulates the production of growth hormone. So if you want to lose weight and increase height, aerobic exercise is an important form of exercise that can be your alternative.