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"&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI is an important tool that you can use to determine if your child is &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/childhood-obesity-overview-2633984&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;overweight&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, underweight, or at a healthy weight.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;That&amp;amp;#39;s why the American Academy of Pediatrics has &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/latest-aap-recommendations-2634045&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;recommended&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; routine screening and tracking of BMI in all children once they are about two years old.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Does your &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/pediatric-advice-best-practices-2634040&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;pediatrician&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; calculate your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI or body mass index at his yearly well child checks? Do you know how to do it?&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;BMI&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BMI is calculated with a child&amp;amp;#39;s height and weight using a simple formula, a BMI calculator, or by looking it up on a BMI wheel or BMI tables. Although it doesn&amp;amp;#39;t measure body fat, BMI can be used to determine if a child is overweight.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BMI is usually thought of as a tool that is used in &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/help-with-weight-loss-for-kids-who-cant-lose-weight-2633987&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot;&amp;gt;treating children who are overweight&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;, however, it can also help determine if children are underweight if they have a low BMI.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;h3&amp;gt;Understanding BMI&amp;lt;/h3&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In adults, once you calculate your BMI, it is rather easy to interpret your results, as a BMI between 25 to 30 is considered overweight and a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Interpreting BMI is a bit more complicated for children, though, since you also have to take into account the child&amp;amp;#39;s age to figure out the percentile ranking for that BMI. This BMI percentile can then help you determine if a child is overweight or at a healthy weight.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;To calculate your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI, you need to:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_bmi/measuring_children.html&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;measure&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; his weight (pounds)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;measure his height (inches)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;calculate his BMI by dividing your child&amp;amp;#39;s weight by his height squared and multiplying the total by a conversion factor of 703&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BMI formula &amp;amp;#61; (weight / (height x height)) x 703&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Alternatively, using metric measurements, you would:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;measure his weight (kilograms)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;measure his height (meters)&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;calculate his BMI by dividing his weight by his height squared&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;BMI formula (metric) &amp;amp;#61; weight / (height x height)&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;You now have to figure out your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI percentile to see what his BMI actually means.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In adults, once you calculate your BMI, it is rather easy to interpret your results, as a BMI between 25 to 30 is considered &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/childhood-obesity-overview-2633984&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;overweight&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; and a BMI of 30 and above is considered obese.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Or you are underweight if your BMI is under&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;It&amp;amp;#39;s not so simple in kids, though.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;In kids, BMI is both age and sex specific.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;So in addition to their BMI, you have to know your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI percentile:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Calculate your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Find the age and sex appropriate &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/growth-charts-p2-3866051&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;BMI chart&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; for your child&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Plot your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI on the BMI chart&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;Figure out your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI category&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ol&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;You can also expect that your pediatrician will do all of this at your child&amp;amp;#39;s next well child checkup.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;So once you have calculated your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI and found their percentile, you can &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/understanding-bmi-2633280&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;figure out&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; if they are:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Underweight&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; - BMI less than the 5th percentile&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Healthy Weight&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; - BMI 5th percentile up to the 85th percentile&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Overweight&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; - BMI 85th to less than the 95th percentile&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;strong&amp;gt;Obese&amp;lt;/strong&amp;gt; - BMI greater than or equal to the 95th percentile&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Since these categories depend on your child&amp;amp;#39;s age, two kids can have the same BMI and be in different categories.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Other tools to help you figure out if your child is &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://www.verywell.com/childhood-obesity-overview-2633984&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;internalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;1&amp;quot;&amp;gt;overweight&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; and calculate your child&amp;amp;#39;s BMI and BMI percentiles include:&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;ul&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt; &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;https://nccd.cdc.gov/dnpabmi/calculator.aspx&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;2&amp;quot;&amp;gt;CDC BMI Percentile Calculator&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; - a calculator that provides BMI and the corresponding BMI-for-age percentile on a CDC BMI-for-age growth chart&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://www.cdc.gov/healthyweight/assessing/bmi/childrens_BMI/tool_for_schools.html&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;3&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Children&amp;amp;#39;s BMI Spreadsheet&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt; - an Excel spreadsheet that can be used by schools, child care centers, and other professionals who want to compute BMI on large groups of children&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http://obesity.nichq.org/resources/healthy%20care%20for%20healthy%20kids%20obesity%20toolkit&amp;quot; data-component=&amp;quot;link&amp;quot; data-source=&amp;quot;inlineLink&amp;quot; data-type=&amp;quot;externalLink&amp;quot; data-ordinal=&amp;quot;4&amp;quot; rel=&amp;quot;nofollow&amp;quot;&amp;gt;Healthy Care for Healthy Kids Obesity Toolkit&amp;lt;/a&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;A digital BMI scale - although these bathroom scales are popular, you still have to input your child&amp;amp;#39;s height and they won&amp;amp;#39;t calculate a BMI percentile for kids&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/li&amp;gt;&amp;lt;/ul&amp;gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<https://www.verywell.com/bmi-calculators-3879979>