Norm in Pennelville asks: Where do I find the BMI for my 9 year old, and does age matter when finding it out? Our friends at Health Connections at SUNY Upstate Medical University found a lot of information on the website of the Centers for Disease Control.Body Mass Index (BMI) is a number calculated from a child’s weight and height. BMI is a reliable indicator of body fatness for most children and teens.
For children and teens, BMI is age- and sex-specific and is often referred to as BMI-for-age.
After BMI is calculated for children and teens, the BMI number is plotted on the CDC BMI-for-age growth charts (for either girls or boys) to obtain a percentile ranking. Percentiles are the most commonly used indicator to assess the size and growth patterns of individual children in the United States. The percentile indicates the relative position of the child’s BMI number among children of the same sex and age. The growth charts show the weight status categories used with children and teens (underweight, healthy weight, at risk of overweight, and overweight).
Age and sex are considered for children and teens for two reasons:
- The amount of body fat changes with age. (BMI for children and teens is often referred to as BMI-for-age.) The amount of body fat differs between girls and boys.
The CDC BMI-for-age growth charts for girls and boys take into account these differences and allow translation of a BMI number into a percentile for a child’s or teen’s sex and age.You can find more of this information on the
Center for Disease Control's website.
And you can get answers to health-related questions for the entire family through
Health Connections,from our partners at SUNY Upstate Medical University.
