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Baby Weight Percentages
What Percentile Is Your Child In, and Does It Matter?
By Lisa A. Goldstein
Your friend recently bragged that her son was in the 90th percentile for weight. But at your son's recent checkup, the doctor said he was in the 10th percentile. Why are you feeling competitive all of a sudden, and does the difference really matter?
Indeed, new parents often can't wait to have their baby weighed so they can see what percentile he or she is in. But what do baby weight percentages really mean? This is a weighty issue – no pun intended.
"Weight percentiles tell us the percentage of kids at the same age in the United States that weigh less or the same as we do," says Dr. Deborah Lonzer, Interim Chair, Department of Regional Pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Children's Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. "For example, if you are at the 50th percentile, then about 50 percent of kids are lighter than you, and you are at the median weight for kids that age. If you are at the 75th percentile, then you are as heavy or heavier than 75 percent of kids the same age. It is important to plot the weights on the growth charts at very accurate ages – 2 years is very different than 28 months of age."
These numbers are based on data that has been collected on kids' growth in the United States through the National Center for Health Statistics since the 1960s. The first growth charts were developed for use in the late 1970s, and later revised in 2000, based on updated height and weight data that was collected. Nowadays, Body Mass Index (BMI) growth charts are also used. BMI is a way of monitoring growth and can help to predict future high cholesterol, heart disease and obesity – major health risks to today's society. The size of an infant's head is also monitored when looking at growth and development.
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