Ideal Weight Ranges For Children

Ideal weight ranges for children have become highly individualized. The medical community now recognizes that every child has an ideal weight range based on sex, age, height and body mass index. The focus has shifted to a healthy weight rather than an ideal weight. A child's BMI is the best indicator of a healthy weight. Healthy weight ranges are different for boys and girls, changing with each month of age and every inch they grow, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Underweight

An underweight child will have a body mass index less than the 5th percentile. That means that 95 percent of children of the same age, sex, and height have a higher BMI. Being underweight may reflect acute malnutrition or an underlying health condition. The 2003 to 2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey estimated that, in the United States, 3.3 percent of children ages 2 to 19 were underweight.

Healthy Weight

A child who has a healthy weight will have a BMI between the 5th and 84th percentiles. The 50th percentile indicates the average for a particular group of children of the same age, sex and height. Healthy weight for children and teens is measured using BMI-for-age, which takes age and sex into account, in addition to height and weight. The usual adult BMI charts, which do not take age or sex into account, are not reliable indicators of your child's true BMI.

Overweight

An overweight child has a BMI in the 85th to 94th percentiles. At least 85 percent of children in the same age, sex and height category have lower BMIs than the overweight child. While BMI is used as a screening tool to determine whether a child is overweight, your pediatrician likely will assess diet, physical activity and overall health, too, before making the determination that your child is overweight.

Obese

Obese children have BMIs at 95 percent or above. They have BMIs greater than 95 percent of their peers. The rate of obesity has doubled in the past 30 years for children ages 2 to 5. It's tripled for 6- to 11-year-olds, and it has more than tripled for teens 12 to 19, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. Seventeen percent of America's children are obese, putting them at risk for chronic conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.