

Input the kid’s height (the units don’t matter because the calculator will convert them to the right ones for the equation).Here are the steps for using the BMI calculator for kids effectively: By using our calculator, you will save time and avoid making mistakes when comparing the obtained values with the BMI charts for kids. The number in the percentile category tells you the percentage of the population in the United States with a BMI lower than yours.Ĭalculating the BMI for children by hand is not very difficult, but we have made it even simpler with our BMI calculator for girls and boys. For our BMI calculator for children we have selected 9 different percentiles as a possible result: 5th, 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th, 90th, and 95th. Percentiles are generally set in chunks of several percentages, to simplify and help in comparing individuals in a meaningful way. These tend to be very important across all populations, but they are crucial when we are talking about BMI for girls and BMI for boys. Percentiles are statistical groups based on the percentage of the population that have a smaller BMI than the subject. BMI prime is not a particularly relevant value when we are talking about BMI for children, but we have included it nonetheless for completeness, and so that you can be able to compare not only values of BMI for kids with that of adults, but also to do the same with the prime version if you wish.Īnd now we shall swiftly move on to another result provided by our BMI calculator for kids: the percentiles. The reason behind dividing a persons BMI by 25 is that this value is what WHO deems to be the ideal BMI for adults. This is a quantity derived from BMI, and can be defined as using the following equation: Now we probably ought to explain a couple of terms that we have used in the text preceding and in the BMI calculator for kids itself, starting with BMI prime. This population, of course, includes only kids in their age range. The area it would have landed on represents the percentile he or she is in.įor most cases, a child has a healthy BMI if it is in the range of 5% to 95% of the populations BMI.
#Bmi calculator kids how to#
To read this BMI chart for children properly, you must first find the BMI for the girl or the BMI for the boy that we are interested in (we have instruction below on how to do that using our calculator), and then locating it in the chart by looking at their age and BMI. This data is shown in the charts above and below, and they represent a compilation of all of the collected BMI data for kids in the USA, hence the name BMI chart for kids. To make this comparison, doctors use what are typically called a “ BMI chart for kids“, also referred to as a “ BMI chart for children“. It is for this very reason that the most common way to diagnose a healthy BMI for a child is by simply comparing the BMI for one boy with the BMI of all boys the same age as them (and, obviously, the same for girls). But there are also things specific to BMI for kids such as their current development phase and whether they are in a growth spurt, or if they have just had one the variations are bigger than for any group of adults. We have things like body type and proportions of lean body mass to body fat or even body water percentage that also affect adults (due to the difference in density of all those components). The reason for this comparison, apart from the shortcomings of BMI as a diagnostic tool, is the immense variation in features that affect the BMI for kids. We will explain later what percentiles are, but, for now, just know that it’s a tool to compare an individual with the rest of the population. In fact, when looking at BMI for boys or BMI for girls, doctors always use a percentile BMI chart for children so they know how healthy the results are. For kids, however, this problem is exacerbated.
#Bmi calculator kids free#
Recommended for a more accurate calculationįeel free to provide some more information and get a more detailed comment on your result.In some of our other BMI calculators, we mention the statistical nature of BMI and its inherent problem when using it as a diagnostic tool. * Source: The Global BMI Mortality Collaboration, Lancet 2016 388:776-86ĭo you prefer other units for height and weight?įeet and pounds (lb), stones (st), kilogrammes (kg) Read more about the other privacy issues concerning this site. The values entered here will only be stored in the results page of your browser and nowhere else. It is based on the results of the most comprehensive study* published so far on the BMI and its associated health risks. The SBMI – an index that has been developed four years ago especially for this calculator – serves for this purpose. This calculator computes the body mass index and rates it appropriately for men, women, children, juveniles and seniors.
