BMI Percentile Calculator

Helps check whether a child develops in a healthy manner from a height and weight perspective.

Refer to the text below the tool for more information about the use of BMI pediatric growth charts and percentile tables.

BMI percentile tables developed by WHO for boys and girls aged up to 5 years old help determine whether a child is developing harmoniously from a height and weight perspective and may help paediatricians and other health workers evaluate whether the child has a normal weight, is underweight, overweight or obese.

Body Mass Index (BMI) = Body mass in kg / (Height in m)2

Child BMI charts help retrieve under which percentile the child’s BMI is, based on their age.

Boy or girl?
Age (up to 5 years)
Do you know the BMI value?
BMI
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Steps on how to print your input & results:

1. Fill in the calculator/tool with your values and/or your answer choices and press Calculate.

2. Then you can click on the Print button to open a PDF in a separate window with the inputs and results. You can further save the PDF or print it.

Please note that once you have closed the PDF you need to click on the Calculate button before you try opening it again, otherwise the input and/or results may not appear in the pdf.

 

BMI Percentile Growth Charts

BMI percentile tables developed by WHO for boys and girls aged up to 5 years old help determine whether a child is developing harmoniously from a height and weight perspective.

Determining the percentile may help paediatricians and other health workers evaluate whether the child has a normal weight, is underweight, overweight or obese:

Child’s weight status Growth Chart Percentile
Underweight below the 5th percentile
Normal weight between the 5th and 84th percentile
Overweight between the 85th and 94th percentile
Obese at or above the 95th percentile

The BMI percentile is a simple to identify and compare indicator of thinness and fatness in childhood and is based on the BMI formula:

  • Body Mass Index (BMI) = Body mass in kg / (Height in m)2

Child BMI charts with standards that were developed using data collected in the WHO Multicentre Growth Reference Study help retrieve under which percentile the child’s BMI is, based on their age. Usually, BMI percentiles below the 5th or above the 95th are concerning.

With respect to comparing growth at different ages, it is important that the child is placed under the normal growth percentile line and that they usually follow the same line during two different measurement at two different moments.

 

References

World Health Organization. Child Growth Standards: BMI-for-age tables, Boys percentiles

World Health Organization. Child Growth Standards: BMI-for-age tables, Girls percentiles

Specialty: Pediatrics

Article By: Denise Nedea

Published On: October 6, 2020 · 12:00 AM

Last Checked: October 6, 2020

Next Review: October 6, 2025