Child Height & Weight Percentile Calculator (CDC, Ages 2–19)
Height & Weight Percentile Calculator for Kids (CDC, Ages 2–19)
Find your child’s height percentile and weight percentile using the CDC growth charts. Enter age, sex, height and weight to see how your child compares with other children of the same age and sex, plus BMI-for-age and an optional mid-parental height estimate.
Enter your child’s details
Optional: parents’ heights for a mid-parental height estimate
What height and weight percentiles mean
A percentile compares one child with a large reference group of children of the same age and sex. If your daughter is at the 30th percentile for height, she is taller than about 30 out of 100 girls her age and shorter than about 70. The 50th percentile is the median, not a target: a child who has always tracked along the 20th percentile is usually growing exactly as expected.
Doctors care most about the pattern. Steady growth along one percentile line is reassuring, even if it is a low or high line. Crossing two or more major percentile lines (for example from the 50th to below the 10th) is the kind of change that deserves a closer look.
How this calculator works
The CDC 2000 growth charts describe each measurement with three numbers for every month of age: L (skewness), M (the median) and S (spread). This calculator uses the official CDC values for stature-for-age, weight-for-age and BMI-for-age, taken at the middle of your child’s current month of age, and applies the standard LMS formula:
z = ((X ÷ M)L − 1) ÷ (L × S)
X is your child’s height, weight or BMI. The z-score is then converted to a percentile using the normal distribution. BMI is weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared, and its percentile uses the same CDC categories as our child BMI calculator: below the 5th percentile is underweight, 5th to below the 85th is healthy weight, 85th to below the 95th is overweight, and the 95th or above is obesity.
The optional mid-parental height uses the common Tanner method: add both parents’ heights, add 13 cm for a boy or subtract 13 cm for a girl, and divide by two. Most children end up within about 8.5 cm of this figure.
How to measure your child accurately
- Height: shoes off, heels, bottom and shoulders against a flat wall, eyes looking straight ahead. Rest a hardback book flat on the head, mark the wall and measure to the nearest 0.1 cm.
- Weight: use the same scale each time, on a hard floor, in light clothing and ideally at the same time of day.
- Age: use years and completed months. A few months make a real difference in younger children and during puberty.
A 1 cm error in height can move a young child several percentile points, so re-measure if a result surprises you.
Average height and weight by age (CDC 50th percentile)
The table shows the median — the 50th percentile — for boys and girls at each birthday, from the CDC 2000 reference. About half of healthy children are above these values and half below.
| Age (years) | Boys height (cm) | Boys weight (kg) | Girls height (cm) | Girls weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 86.9 | 12.7 | 85.4 | 12.1 |
| 3 | 95.3 | 14.4 | 94.2 | 13.9 |
| 4 | 102.5 | 16.3 | 101.0 | 15.9 |
| 5 | 109.2 | 18.5 | 108.0 | 18.0 |
| 6 | 115.7 | 20.8 | 115.0 | 20.3 |
| 7 | 122.0 | 23.2 | 121.8 | 22.9 |
| 8 | 128.1 | 25.8 | 127.8 | 25.8 |
| 9 | 133.7 | 28.7 | 133.1 | 29.1 |
| 10 | 138.8 | 32.1 | 138.2 | 33.1 |
| 11 | 143.7 | 36.1 | 144.3 | 37.4 |
| 12 | 149.3 | 40.7 | 151.5 | 41.8 |
| 13 | 156.4 | 45.8 | 157.3 | 46.0 |
| 14 | 164.1 | 51.2 | 160.5 | 49.5 |
| 15 | 170.1 | 56.5 | 161.9 | 52.1 |
| 16 | 173.6 | 61.1 | 162.6 | 53.9 |
| 17 | 175.3 | 64.7 | 162.9 | 55.2 |
| 18 | 176.2 | 67.3 | 163.1 | 56.2 |
| 19 | 176.6 | 69.2 | 163.3 | 57.4 |
When to talk to your child’s doctor
- Height below the 5th percentile or above the 95th, especially if it does not match the parents’ heights.
- Growth that crosses two or more major percentile lines between check-ups, up or down.
- A weight percentile far above or below the height percentile, or a BMI-for-age at or above the 85th percentile.
- Very early or very late signs of puberty, or growth that seems to stop.
These are screening results, not a diagnosis. Your child’s doctor or paediatrician can plot several measurements on a growth chart and interpret them with the full picture.
Questions parents ask
Is the 50th percentile the healthy one?
No. Any percentile from about the 5th to the 95th can be perfectly normal. What matters is steady growth along a similar line over time.
My child is in the 10th percentile for height. Should I worry?
Usually not, particularly if they have always been around that line and the parents are not tall. Mention it at the next check-up if growth has slowed or crossed lines.
Does a high weight percentile mean my child is overweight?
Not on its own. A tall child is naturally heavier. BMI-for-age, which accounts for height, is the measure used to screen weight status; this calculator shows it alongside.
Why does this use CDC charts and not WHO charts?
The CDC recommends the CDC 2000 charts for children aged 2 to 19 in the United States, and the WHO growth standards for babies under 2. Many other countries use the WHO charts at all ages, so percentiles can differ slightly between systems.
How accurate is the mid-parental height estimate?
It is a rough genetic target. Most children finish within about 8.5 cm of it, but nutrition, health and the timing of puberty all play a part.
Sources
- CDC — Percentile data files with LMS values (stature-for-age, weight-for-age, BMI-for-age, 2–20 years)
- CDC — CDC growth charts
- CDC — 2000 CDC growth charts: features and data