Attention: Our Bodies Change Throughout a Lifetime.

During a baby’s first year of life, it will learn to crawl, walk, sing, talk, clap, eat and play. Birth weight will triple by the end of the first year, and body proportions will change dramatically.

The next few years mark more dramatic growth spurts, so by the time a child reaches the age of 5, it will be 2/3 the height of an average adult.

The onset of puberty can begin as early as 7 or 8 years of age, bringing more rapid changes that will ultimately lead to a fully matured adult body about a decade later.

For a pregnant woman, the body undergoes monumental changes: enlarged uterus and breasts; increased cardiac output by 30%-50%; increased volume of blood by about 50%; overworked kidneys; enlarged circumference of the chest to accommodate the lungs; increased breathing rate; various disruptions in the digestive tract; changes in the skin including dryness, blotchiness, stretch marks and varicose veins; larger amounts of hormones in the body including estrogen, progesterone, thyroid hormone, and many others; joint and muscle pain due to loosening of the ligaments. Also worth mentioning are the aftermaths of labour and delivery that can be felt for weeks and months afterwards and the changes in breast tissue due to breastfeeding.

Illness can change a body in very dramatic ways. Patients undergoing chemotherapy can experience changes such as: nausea and vomiting, hair loss, fatigue, increased chance of bruising and bleeding, anemia, infection, intestinal problems, appetite and weight changes, sore mouth, gums, and throat.

As the human body ages, more changes take place. Hair grows where it didn’t before, hair disappears where it used to grow before, veins enlarge, skin thins, gravity takes hold. Wrinkles appear, and at the same time, a zit or two shows up. Noses and ears continue to grow and we will never look as we did 20 years ago.

Why should our weight be any different?