What is the normal lung capacity for children?

Because of different living and eating habits, each child's physical development is also different. Among them, vital capacity is the simplest and most direct way to detect the development of children's lungs. However, since each child's daily exercise volume is different, many children who lack exercise have relatively low vital capacity. Often many parents will be particularly worried. Let's learn about the normal vital capacity of children.

What is the normal lung capacity for children?

The average reference value of students' vital capacity: boys - 7 years old 1342ml, 8 years old 1496ml, 9 years old 1972ml, 10 years old 1843ml, 11 years old 2010ml, 12 years old 2200ml. Girls - 7 years old 1213ml, 8 years old 1354ml, 9 years old 1516ml, 10 years old 1685ml, 11 years old 1883ml, 12 years old 2077ml. Life care: Active physical exercise, such as long-distance running, playing ball, etc. can increase vital capacity.

Lung capacity is closely related to human breathing. Physiological research shows that the human body's organs, systems, tissues, and cells consume oxygen every moment, and the body can only function normally when there is an adequate supply of oxygen. The human body's internal oxygen supply is entirely obtained through breathing through the lungs. During the breathing process, the lungs not only take in oxygen, but also expel carbon dioxide metabolized from the body. We can think of it this way: the lungs are the transit station for the body's gas exchange. The volume of this transit station directly determines the amount of gas exchange during each breath. This is the most intuitive and objective indicator for testing lung function.

A low vital capacity test value (compared with the normal value) indicates that the body's ability to absorb oxygen and expel waste gas is poor. The oxygen supply inside the human body is insufficient, and some of the body's functions cannot function normally. Once the body needs to consume a large amount of oxygen (such as long-term study, work, and strenuous exercise), there will be a serious shortage of oxygen supply, leading to adverse reactions such as headache, dizziness, chest tightness, mental fatigue, inattention, memory loss, insomnia, etc. This will not only affect study and work, but also cause many irreparable losses to physical health.

Lung capacity varies by gender and age, with men having significantly higher lung capacity than women. Before the age of 20, lung capacity gradually increases with age, but after the age of 20, the increase is not obvious. The lung capacity of an adult male is about 3500 to 4000 ml, and that of an adult female is about 2500 to 3000 ml. Lung capacity mainly depends on the degree of expansion and contraction of the chest wall. Lung capacity decreases with age, falling by 9% to 27% every decade, but for people who exercise regularly, their lung capacity can still remain normal.

Physical exercise can significantly improve lung capacity. For example, you can regularly do some calisthenics exercises such as chest expansion and arm swinging, and persist in endurance running, swimming, playing football, playing basketball, shuttle running, etc. The lung capacity of middle- and long-distance runners and swimmers can reach more than 6000 ml.

The above is an introduction to the normal lung capacity of children. I hope that many parents can master more of this common sense, so that they can make timely judgments on the lung condition of their children when they undergo physical examinations. In addition, children are lively and active. Don’t always let your children be too quiet. Release their nature and let them do more physical exercise. This will not only improve lung capacity but also improve the body’s immunity.