What is the mid-parental height?
Choose boy or girl and type both parents’ heights. The mid parental height calculator shows the child’s target height with Tanner’s method and the range most children of these parents end up in. It is a rough guide, not a medical prediction.
- Mid-parental height
- 69.6 in
The mid-parental height is 69.6 in (5 ft 9.6 in), with a target range of 66.2 in to 72.9 in.
- In feet and inches, or metres
- 5 ft 9.6 in
- In centimetres
- 176.7 cm
- Target range from
- 66.2 in
- Target range up to
- 72.9 in
- Parents’ average height
- 67 in
Mid-parental height: 69.6 in. The mid-parental height is 69.6 in (5 ft 9.6 in), with a target range of 66.2 in to 72.9 in.
This calculator gives general information only. It is not medical advice and does not replace a doctor or other health care provider. Talk with a professional about your results. Terms of use
How to calculate
Works out a child’s mid-parental target height from both parents’ heights with Tanner’s method, (father + mother ± 13 cm) ÷ 2, and the ± 8.5 cm target range.
Example with the default inputs (Child’s sex Boy, Father’s height 5 ft 10 in, Mother’s height 5 ft 4 in): The mid-parental height is 69.6 in (5 ft 9.6 in), with a target range of 66.2 in to 72.9 in.
Method: Mid-parental height = (father’s height + mother’s height + 13 cm) ÷ 2 for a boy, or − 13 cm for a girl; target range ± 8.5 cm.
- Men are on average about 13 cm taller than women, so the parents’ average is moved 6.5 cm up for a boy and 6.5 cm down for a girl (Tanner 1970).
- The target range of 8.5 cm either side is Tanner’s, about the 3rd to 97th centile; later work widened it to about 9 cm for girls and 10 cm for boys.
- The parents are the biological parents, and the child grows in good health and nutrition.
- This is a rough guide for families, not a medical prediction. A pediatrician can use growth charts and bone age for more.
Worked examples
Each example is checked against the calculator on every build.
- Child’s sex Boy, Father’s height 5 ft 10 in, Mother’s height 5 ft 4 in gives Mid-parental height 69.6 in, Target range from 66.2 in, Target range up to 72.9 in, Parents’ average height 67 in.Source: Tanner JM, Goldstein H, Whitehouse RH, Standards for children’s height at ages 2–9 years allowing for heights of parents, Arch Dis Child 1970;45:755–762, https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.244.755; Zeevi D et al., Accurate Prediction of Children’s Target Height from Their Mid-Parental Height, Children (Basel) 2024 (NIH PMC: Tanner’s ± 6.5 cm sex adjustment and ± 8.5 cm range), https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11352326/, retrieved 2026-10-02
- Child’s sex Girl, Father’s height 5 ft 10 in, Mother’s height 5 ft 4 in gives Mid-parental height 64.4 in, Target range from 61.1 in, Target range up to 67.8 in.Source: Tanner JM, Goldstein H, Whitehouse RH, Standards for children’s height at ages 2–9 years allowing for heights of parents, Arch Dis Child 1970;45:755–762, https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.244.755
- Child’s sex Girl, Father’s height 5 ft 10.9 in, Mother’s height 5 ft 5 in gives Mid-parental height 65.4 in, In centimetres 166 cm, Parents’ average height 67.9 in.Source: Tanner JM, Goldstein H, Whitehouse RH, Standards for children’s height at ages 2–9 years allowing for heights of parents, Arch Dis Child 1970;45:755–762, https://doi.org/10.1136/adc.45.244.755
How it works
Mid-parental (target) height, Tanner 1970, with heights in centimetres:
- Boy: (father’s height + mother’s height + 13) ÷ 2
- Girl: (father’s height + mother’s height − 13) ÷ 2
- Target range: the mid-parental height − 8.5 cm to + 8.5 cm.
- Parents’ average height: (father’s height + mother’s height) ÷ 2, before the 6.5 cm move.
Heights can be typed in feet and inches, inches, centimetres, or metres, from 1 m to 2.5 m; the sums use exact unit sizes (1 in = 2.54 cm). The result shows in inches (1 decimal), in feet and inches (or metres in Metric), and in centimetres (1 decimal).
Use the biological parents’ measured adult heights. The method assumes the child grows in good health and with good nutrition.
Worked examples by hand
A boy; father 5 ft 10 in (177.8 cm), mother 5 ft 4 in (162.56 cm). (177.8 + 162.56 + 13) ÷ 2 = 176.68 cm (69.6 in, 5 ft 9.6 in); range 168.18 to 185.18 cm; parents’ average 170.18 cm.
A girl with the same parents. (177.8 + 162.56 − 13) ÷ 2 = 163.68 cm (64.4 in); range 155.18 to 172.18 cm.
A girl; father 180 cm, mother 165 cm. (180 + 165 − 13) ÷ 2 = 166 cm; parents’ average 172.5 cm.
Other questions people ask
What is mid-parental height?
The average of the parents’ heights, moved for the child’s sex. Doctors use it as a target height: the adult height a child of these parents is most likely to reach. It is the centre of a range, not an exact forecast.
How do I calculate mid-parental height?
In centimetres: for a boy, (father + mother + 13) ÷ 2; for a girl, (father + mother − 13) ÷ 2. In inches, use 5 instead of 13. A boy with a 177.8 cm (5 ft 10 in) father and a 162.6 cm (5 ft 4 in) mother has a target of (177.8 + 162.56 + 13) ÷ 2 = 176.7 cm, about 5 ft 9.6 in.
Why add or take away 13 cm?
Adult men are on average about 13 cm taller than adult women. Adding 13 cm for a boy (or taking 13 cm away for a girl) and halving moves the parents’ average 6.5 cm toward the child’s sex.
What is the target range?
Tanner put the range at 8.5 cm either side of the mid-parental height, about the 3rd to 97th centile. Later work widened it to about 9 cm for girls and 10 cm for boys. A child far outside the range may be worth a talk with a pediatrician.
Is mid-parental height accurate?
It is a rough guide. Two children of the same parents can end up far apart, and nutrition, health and puberty timing all matter. A pediatrician can add the child’s growth chart and bone age.
How is this different from the height calculator?
It is the same Tanner method. This page leads with the mid-parental height and also shows the parents’ plain average; the height calculator leads with the predicted adult height.