Does Losing Weight Make You Taller? – Someone who is overweight, can he increase his height by losing weight? We know that weight increases as height increases. But many say that by losing weight significantly a person can increase his height a few centimeters.
There is a point too, actually it’s more to how many kg can be lowered. If you only lose 2-3 kg, you may not see the impact of increasing your height. Research shows that marginal gains in height are seen in those who have reduced it significantly. How can this happen, read on in this article to find an explanation.
Does Losing Weight Increase Height?
True, the body can increase in height by losing weight significantly. How can losing weight make you taller? This can happen in several ways:
First: Unhealthy weight gain during the growth period has an adverse effect on the body growth of children and adolescents. Uncontrolled weight gain from time to time can cause children to become obese and obesity can lead to diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, parents should not allow extra weight gain if they want their children to grow healthy and optimal.
Second: Adults cannot grow or grow taller naturally, this is because their growth plates have closed. Remember a slimmer body will make you appear taller. When you lose weight, the body’s pressure on the joints is reduced, excess weight puts pressure on the spine, making a person shorter than he should be. However, the gain in height resulting from significant weight loss is marginal. The growth is very small and it ranges between 1 inch or 1.5 inches.
Are you overweight? How to determine it?
So, how exactly, does weight affect height? Health experts have long studied this. Different formulas have been used to calculate a person’s weight and height, and the most well-known formula for measuring height and weight is the body mass index or BMI.
To measure total body fat, BMI uses the metric system and divides body weight in kg by the square of height in meters. You can use your BMI score to determine whether your weight is in line with your height. The BMI score can also be used to see the possible risk of other diseases related to your weight.
How to calculate ideal weight for your height
Here’s the BMI formula for measuring your weight relative to your height:
- BMI (US units) = (weight (lb) ÷ height² (in)) x 703
- BMI (Metric units) = weight (kg) ÷ height² (m)
After knowing what your BMI score is, then you can compare or align your score with the standard score that has been issued by the World Health Organization (WHO). That way you can see whether your weight is included in normal weight, overweight or even underweight, you will know which category you fall into.
| 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 |
This is only a table for adults, while children are still experiencing changes because they are still growing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) uses biological sex and age in calculating the BMI score, this BMI formula is for those aged 2 to 20 years. Percentiles in the BBC CDC make comparisons between measurements of boys and girls of the same sex and age.
- If the child’s weight falls below 5%, then he is underweight
- If your child’s weight loss is between 5% and 84.9%, then he is at a healthy weight for his height.
- If a child drops between 85% and 95%, he is at risk of being overweight.
- If the child’s percentile is above 95%, then he is considered overweight.
7 Effective Weight Loss to Increase Height
whether you lose weight or gain weight, this is normal in life. To be successful, of course we have to try hard in the right way. Set your goal to lose weight so that there is an increase in height and be consistent with yourself to achieve it. Be persistent in your efforts and commitment throughout your business journey. Below are some important efforts you can do to lose weight and increase height.
1. Practice swimming
Regular swimming practice is without a doubt the best way to lose weight and increase height. Swimming helps maintain a healthy weight, strengthens your muscles, and keeps your body lean. Swimming exercise is also a stretch for the spine which is one way to make the body taller.
Check out: Does Swimming Make You Taller?
So to achieve maximum height, lose your weight if you are obese. Swimming burns a lot of body calories and stretches the body and this will be very useful for those of you who want to grow optimally.
2. Cycling
Cycling is also a sport that is very draining and burns calories. It can also lengthen bones, thus enabling you to lose weight and in turn increase height.
3. Eat more vegetables
By eating lots of fiber-rich green vegetables, you can lose weight. Besides that you can also eat lots of fruits, vegetables in general, and nuts which are rich in essential nutrients for the body. Another positive value of fruits and vegetables is their low calorie nature.
Foods like these can make you full quickly without having to fill your stomach with calories and fat. Foods rich in fiber and vitamins and various minerals are also beneficial for increasing height. You also need to reduce salty foods, sugar, and caffeine because these substances can inhibit you from growing optimally.
4. Stay away from processed and canned foods
Processed food is food that has been filled with fat, salt or sugar and even contains preservatives. These foods are dangerous in losing weight, so this type of food should be avoided as much as possible. Instead you can choose home-cooked food.
Check out more: 7 Fermented Foods Benefits for Our Health
5. Increase protein intake
One of the best ways to lose weight and increase height is to increase protein intake. Without following a strict diet, we can lose weight as long as we know how.
For someone who is in a period of growth, it is very important to pay attention to diet, so that our food does not have low protein value. Protein plays an important role for growth, without sufficient protein it will be difficult for the body to grow properly. So, increasing protein intake and reducing carbohydrates, we can obtain maximum body growth. Among protein-rich foods are whey protein, oatmeal, quinoa, and nuts.
In addition, it is also necessary to avoid foods such as white flour and white bread. White bread is a low-fiber, low-protein food, and eating it can easily get stuck in the esophagus. You can replace white flour with wheat flour, also replace white bread with whole wheat bread.
6. Do aerobics
Aerobics is physical exercise which is a collaboration between stretching exercises and strength training. Aerobic exercise can improve the fitness of all parts of the body. Not burning the body’s calories, but aerobics also increases growth hormone which makes a person grow fast.
If you are oriented to lose weight and increase height, then one of them is aerobic exercise that can move your whole body.
