What is normal body temperature for an adult human?

A German doctor in the 19th century set the standard at 98.6 F (37 C), but more recent studies say the baseline for most people is closer to 98.2 F (36.6 С).

For a typical adult, body temperature can be anywhere from 97 F to 99 F (36-37 С). Babies and children have a little higher range: 97.9 F to 100.4 F (36.5-37.7 C).

Not everyone’s “normal” body temperature is the same. Yours could be a whole degree different than someone else’s.

Your temperature doesn’t stay the same all day, and it will vary throughout your lifetime, too. Some things cause your temperature to move around during the day such as how active you are, what time of day it is etc.

More Info: www.webmd.com

Test your knowledge

What are your thoughts on this subject?

112 Comments

George Oliver Prince

Remember growing up when 98.6 was the standard

Laurie Johnson Gonzalez

Frederick Zinos, Average temperature of what? 212°F is the boiling point of water at sea level. That is scientific fact. It is also scientific fact the earth is a sphere, not flat. You flat earth people are nuts.

gbluemoon

When did our temps.go down.Always taught 98.6

Bob Haynes

I liked the Info. Now I have to lower my temp by .4

cgrhm

Average, not normal, is usually used by doctors.

Player

Things seem to have cooled off a tad since I learned this.

mapiferuk

It would be interesting to know, I totally agree. My normal temperature is around 35.5 C , whenever I feel feverish I notice it first by my eves feeling weird, when I take my temperature and I’m at 36.8 C (sorry, no idea what that is in F) I known I’m sick.

Della cina

I was taught in nursing school that it was 98.6. Wondering when they changed it.

Christy Flanders

I'm pretty sure that the correct answer is 98.6. Since 98.2 was the closest to the correct answer, I chose that & got it right. Have they changed the average/normal temperature or is this answer whack?!

PlayerROYST

I was all told the true temperature is 310.15 kelvin to be really accurate.

Armadillo

Bob Haynes, me too.

Tamsin

Actually 36.9°C

Nancy Mueller

My temperature is usually 96.8. Yep, that’s the same numbers as the old standard but reversed a bit. I think humans are having lower temperatures because of a shift in our gut biomes. As some good bacteria does best at that higher temperature, we are getting sicker. This phenomenon is being studied now.