To estimate whether your child is healthy, underweight, overweight or obese, BMI is most recommended by many pediatricians. BMI is the calculation that indicates someone’s body fat using their weight and height. Many BMI calculators for kids are available online to help parents understand whether their child is at a healthy weight. These calculators have many easy to use built-in features and always include a kid’s weight and height. Mostly body mass index screenings start when your child is 2 years or older.
BMI Calculator for Children
BMI Calculator is very easy to use and can help you determine your child’s health. Here are the basic features of any BMI calculator to help you better understand the application.
- First, you have to specify how you measure your child’s weight and height, that is, either in US Standard (Ib/in) or Metric (kg/cm).
- Then you will designate your child’s gender as the weight and body fat vary in boys and girls. That is why you have to choose between the options of whether your child is male or female.
- You have to enter your child’s age. BMI calculator shows three tabs with labels appearing on top of each tab with Month, Date and the Year, and your child is born. It is the date of birth.
- You have to enter your child’s height. If you have chosen US Standard (Ib/in), then the height would be described in feet and inches, and if you have chosen metric (kg/cm), then the unit of height would appear in centimeters.
- Finally, you will enter the weight of your child. If in US Standards, it will appear in pounds and if in metric it will appear in Kilograms.
- To delete the information, you entered, all you have to do is to press the Reset button. If you want to proceed, then you will press the Calculate BMI button.
Down below is the snippet of the general BMI Calculator for children.
BMI Percentile
After calculating your kid’s BMI, you have to compare the results with the Children’s BMI Charts that are also available online. These charts help determine how the child’s BMI results compare with that of others of the same age and gender. As the BMI measurements start from age 2 or older, the child’s height, weight, and body fat are continuously changing, and that is why a kid’s BMI cannot be defined by an ugly number. Still, instead, it is described by percentiles. It categorizes into four groups of Healthy weight, underweight, overweight and obese.
Healthy:Children with their percentile ranging from 5th to 85th are considered to be healthy.
Underweight:Children below the 5th percentile is underweight and need proper diet and care because this can lead to many health problems.
Overweight:Kids or teenagers who are overweight, mostly have 85th percentile to 95th percentile.
Obese:Children with 95th percentile or higher are obese and require healthy changes in their diet plan and proper exercise.
These percentile charts or Children’s BMI Charts are for Children from the ages of 2 to 20 years old. Many parents get the impression that if their kid has a high BMI, he/she is overweight or has more body fat, this is not necessarily true. As the kids grow their body continuously changes, some children with high BMI may have more muscle, but less body fat and some with less height and weight may have more body fat but less BMI. For a better understanding of a Child’s BMI, you should consult with a pediatrician who is doing the routine checkups of your child.
BMI Calculation Formula:
BMI= SI, Metric Units:
BMI = mass (kg)/height2 (m)
USC Units:
BMI = 703 × mass (lbs)/height2 (in)
Tips for BMI in Healthy Range
Many health care experts suggest that kids of all ages and weight should adopt a healthy lifestyle to keep their body fat in check. Here are a few tips that every parent should follow:
- What your family needs are the proper intake of vegetables and fruits. Give your children vegetables or fruit with every meal. It will develop their interest in a healthy diet.
- Watching TV should not be more than 2 hours a day. Children who use other means of screens like computers and video games should limit their use too.
- Physical activities or outdoor activities are always good for health for every age. Develop your kid’s interest in exercise.
- Sugar intake should be minimal.
To The End
There are many online tools available that calculate BMI; therefore, you have to make sure that you are using BMI Calculator for kids not for adults to avoid any misinterpretation. Another online tool that comes in handy to calculate a kid’s BMI is WebMD’s FIT kids BMI Calculator. These calculators can help you have the basic idea of your kid’s current health and what proper measurements need to be taken Although BMI is not the exact measurement of the body fat it can help you solve weight issues that can lead to many serious health problems.
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