{"id":"ffbc4046bc0d4f986b74e4094589f741","slug":"my-7-year-old-daughter-weighs-less-than-her-5-year-old-brother-should-i-be-concerned","question":"My 7-year-old daughter weighs less than her 5-year-old brother should I be concerned?","answer":"I'd need to know more about what \"weighs less\" means in context—her actual weight, how much less, and how both children are growing over time—to give you useful guidance. Weight alone at different ages doesn't tell the full story.\n\nThe research I have addresses sleep and weight in 5-year-olds specifically, and it doesn't cover comparative weight between siblings of different ages. What matters most for both children is the trajectory: are they each growing steadily at their own pace, gaining roughly 5–7 pounds per year in the early school years? If your pediatrician has plotted their growth curves and both are tracking along their own percentiles without sudden drops or flattening, that's the reassuring sign.\n\nIf you've noticed a recent shift—your 7-year-old losing weight, or your 5-year-old gaining unusually quickly—that's worth flagging at their next checkup. Otherwise, two healthy kids can legitimately weigh different amounts and both be thriving. Your pediatrician can give you the most useful answer because they know each child's baseline and growth pattern.","sources":"[{\"pmid\":\"34284833\",\"title\":\"Sleep duration and eating behaviours are associated with body composition in 5-year-old children: findings from the ROLO longitudinal birth cohort study.\",\"journal\":\"The British journal of nutrition\",\"year\":\"2022\",\"url\":\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34284833/\",\"score\":0.74}]","thread_json":null,"topic":"growth-and-weight","view_count":0,"created_at":"2026-10-07T23:00:45.583Z"}