Last updated on August 24, 2020
Question:
Will I ever outgrow my baby-face? I am a 16-year-old guy and started puberty on time and stuff like that, but my face makes me look younger than I am. It seems like most of my friends have more manly looking faces than I do. I am actually fairly skinny and kind of muscular, but when people just see a picture of my face, they think I look chubby. Even my parents, who are fairly overweight, have more defined faces than me. So am I stuck looking like I am 14 and chubby forever? Or will this eventually go away? Also, I think that it would be healthy for me to lose like a few pounds (like maybe 5 or something), but I don’t think I should lose too much because I am 5’8 and about 140 pounds. Would this get rid of some of the fat in my cheeks?
Answer:
There are several factors which people use to judge the apparent age of a person. Chubby cheeks are not one of them. Take a look at people on the street and notice that being overweight doesn’t make a person look younger.
As far as your weight goes, you are average for your height and age. I don’t recommend that you try losing weight while you are developing. Many diets are not well balanced and the lack of proper nutrition can interfere with your growth. At the very most, I can suggest cutting back on deserts, sweets, and the like to see if that lowers your weight a bit, but you might not be able to tell because you are still growing. So while the scales don’t show a decrease in your weight, you might still be slimming down.
What people look at is the shape of a man’s jaw and the texture of his skin. I suspect that you are in stage 3 of development. It is in stage 4 that the shape of your face begins to change. It is also in stage 4 that you will begin growing darker facial hair. Those two things will make you look older. So, be patient. It will come in time.