Kidney Facts for Kids

A Picture of the Human Kidneys
  • Organ Name: Kidney
  • Organ Location: Upper abdominal cavity
  • Organ System: Urinary system
  • Organ Purpose: Filter blood, blood pressure regulation and red blood cells
  • Organ Weight: Between 1.4 and 6.2 ounces
  • Organ Size: About the size of a human fist

22 Kidney Facts for Kids

  1. Kidneys are organs that are shaped like beans and are part of the urinary system in humans.
  2. Kidneys filter the blood by removing waste and excreting it via urine (pee).
  3. Kidneys help keep a stable balance of fluids in your body.
  4. Kidneys help keep your blood pressure at a normal level.
  5. Kidneys produce hormones that aid in the production of red blood cells.
  6. At birth a genetically normal human has two kidneys.
  7. The right kidney is slightly smaller than the left kidney to make room for the liver.
  8. Kidneys are in the upper area of the human abdominal cavity, with one on each side of the spine.
  9. The average weight of a healthy male adult human kidney is between 2.8 and 6.2 ounces.
  10. The average weight of a healthy female adult human kidney is between 1.4 and 6.7 ounces.
  11. Kidneys filter around 37.5 gallons of blood every day or about 1.5 gallons every hour.
  12. Kidneys filter the entire blood volume in the human body between 20 to 25 times per day.
  13. Kidneys produce between 0.25 and 0.5 gallons of urine every day.
  14. Humans don’t need both Kidneys to survive. You can live a completely healthy life with just one kidney.
  15. A kidney stone is a solid piece of material that develops in kidneys.
  16. Kidney stones can be quite painful and if they’re large enough may require surgery to be removed.
  17. Abdul Abu Al Hajjar holds the record for the largest kidney stone. In 2017, he had a kidney stone removed that weighed 4.4 pounds in Kensington, England.
  18. Donald Winfield holds the record for the most kidney stones passed without needing surgery, a whopping 5,704.
  19. A kidney transplant is a surgical procedure where a living or deceased donor’s kidney is removed and put into another human who has end-stage kidney disease.
  20. The United States had over 16,500 kidney transplants in 2008.
  21. The first attempt to surgically transplant of a human kidney was in 1933, by Yuri Voronoy.
  22. The first successful attempt to surgically transplant of a human kidney was in 1954, Joseph E. Smith.

Additional Resources on the Human Kidneys

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