BMI Calculator
| BMI Chart | ||
|---|---|---|
| Adults |
Ages 2-19 (Percentiles) |
|
| Under Weight | <18.5 | <5th |
| Normal Weight | 18.5−<25 | 5th−<85th |
| Overweight | 25−<30 | 85th−<95th |
| Obese (Class I) | 30−<35 | >=95th |
| Obese (Class II) | 35−< 40 | >=120%−<140% of the 95th |
| Obese (Class III+) | >=40 | >=140% of the 95th |
Health professionals use a BMI Calculator to determine if you are at a healthy weight for your age and height. You can enter some basic information about yourself into Pennington Biomedical’s BMI Calculator to learn the following:
BMI
BMI (Body Mass Index) is an estimate of body fat and is calculated for both children and adults. A high BMI might mean you are at a higher risk for diseases associated with obesity.
BMI Percentile
The BMI Percentile is calculated for children and young adults aged 2 to 19. Health professionals can use the percentile score to categorize a child’s BMI to identify where the child falls in relation to other children of the same age and sex.
Z-Score
BMI Z-Scores are also calculated for children and young adults aged 2 to 19. This number indicates how much higher or lower your BMI is on a standard growth chart. BMI Z-Scores help health professionals to monitor weight changes in children and adolescents especially if they are in the underweight or overweight percentiles.
How to Measure a Child’s Height
Measuring a child’s height and weight at each visit allows the provider to calculate the child’s Body Mass Index (BMI) and BMI percentile. These instructions can be used to train new clinic staff who will be taking measurements for pediatric patients. It can also be provided to patient caregivers for home use if needed.
