What to know
Use World Health Organization (WHO) Growth Standard Charts for children from birth to 2 years. Use 2000 CDC Growth Charts for children and adolescents 2 years and older. Use 2022 CDC Extended BMI-for-Age Growth Charts if children and adolescents have a very high BMI (above the 97th percentile).
Recommendations
To monitor growth in infants, children, and adolescents in the United States, CDC recommends that health care providers use the:
- World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Standard Charts for children birth to 2 years.
- CDC 2000 Growth Charts for children and adolescents 2 years or older. These include stature-for age, weight-for-age, and BMI-for-age charts.
- CDC 2022 Extended BMI-for-age Growth Charts for children and adolescents 2 years or older with very high BMIs (above the 97th percentile for age and sex).
BMI Calculator
2000 CDC Growth Charts
The 2000 CDC Growth Charts include BMI-for-age, stature-for-age, weight-for-age for boys and girls 2 to 20 years. The stature-for-age and weight-for-age charts can help determine weight and stature patterns separately. The charts can also help health care providers and parents understand growth patterns observed on the BMI-for-age chart. See:
2022 CDC Extended BMI-for-Age Growth Charts
The 2022 CDC Extended BMI-for-Age Growth Charts include BMI-for-age charts for boys and girls 2 to 20 years. They have four additional percentile curves above the 95th percentile (98th, 99th, 99.9th, and 99.99th percentiles).
These charts are based on an updated reference population that includes children with obesity and severe obesity. They can plot BMI up to 60 kg/m2. CDC recommends that health care providers use these charts to plot BMI for children and adolescents 2 years or older who have very high BMIs (above the 97th percentile for age and sex). See: