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Assess my child's weight

Girl standing in front of scale

How do I know if my kids are at a healthy weight?

Understanding if your child is at a healthy weight can be tricky. The best person to ask is your Pediatrician. In general, after your child is weighed on a scale, your pediatrician will use your child’s height and weight to determine their body mass index, or BMI.

Body Mass Index, or BMI, is a common measure used to express the relationship between a person’s weight and their height. BMI for children is specified according to the child’s sex and age.

Use the link below to calculate your child's BMI.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/usefultools/l/bl_bmi_calc.htm


Growth Charts and Percentiles

Girls

Boys

“In children and adolescents, BMI changes with age and gender. As children age, BMI increases (Hammer et al., 1991; Pietrobelli et al.,1998). Therefore, BMI is plotted on a chart of the appropriate gender, relative to the child’s age. BMI is evaluated using percentile cutoff points to compare values for a given child with other children of the same age and gender from a national reference sample.”

  • If your child’s BMI is in the 85th to 95th percentile for their age, they are considered overweight.
  • If your child is in the 95th percentile or above for their age, then they are considered obese.

For more information visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Tip of the Day 9

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