Understanding If Your Child is a Healthy Weight

Children are weighed routinely at Doctors checkups and a medical exam is always the best way to determine if your child is a healthy weight. 

As an interim measure to determine if your child's weight is in the healthy range, you can use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts showing body mass index (BMI) in percentiles - see below. 

These charts can be used for females age 2 to 20 years. 

To calculate your child's BMI, determine her height and weight and then use the information in calculating BMI in children. 

Then use the chart below to determine if your child is a healthy weight.

Use this chart to locate your child's BMI and age. 

• Children with a BMI in the white zone are considered underweight. 
• Children with a BMI in the green zone are considered to have a normal weight. 
• Children with a BMI in the yellow zone are considered at risk for being obese. 
• Children with a BMI in the red zone are considered obese. 
• A child who has a large upward change in BMI percentile, even if she is not considered overweight, should be evaluated to determine the cause. 
• A child who has continuously been in the 85th, 90th, or 95th percentile range is probably growing normally (homeostasis) for her body type.