Height Percentile Calculator for Children
Free height percentile calculator for children: height or length for age on the WHO and CDC growth charts, with weight and BMI percentiles too.
Growth chart
These percentiles compare one measurement with the WHO and CDC reference curves. They are not a diagnosis: talk to your pediatrician about your child's growth.
Height depends a lot on the parents' height, so a child who follows a low percentile steadily is usually just following the family's pattern. What matters most is the trend over time.
Also: Child Growth Chart Calculator: Height, Weight and BMI Percentiles Β· Baby Percentile Calculator: Weight, Length and Head Size Β· BMI Percentile Calculator for Children and Teens Β· BMI Calculator
What it does
A growth chart shows how a child's weight, height, BMI and head circumference compare with those of healthy children of the same age and sex. The percentile says how many children out of 100 measure less: at the 75th percentile, a child is taller or heavier than 75 of them. This calculator uses the WHO Child Growth Standards up to 2 years and the CDC growth charts from 2 to 20 years, as the CDC recommends, with the official LMS tables of both.
How to use it
- Choose the sex and type the age in years and months.
- Type the weight and the height, and for babies the head circumference, in metric or imperial units.
- See each percentile with its z-score and the child's point on the growth chart.
The arithmetic runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so you can use these with real numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What does the 50th percentile mean?
It is the middle of the curve: half of the healthy children of that age and sex measure less and half measure more. Any percentile between the 3rd and the 97th is within the usual range; a child does not need to be at the 50th.
Why WHO charts before 2 and CDC charts after?
The WHO standards were built from breastfed babies raised in good conditions in six countries, and describe how a baby should grow. The CDC charts come from US surveys and are the usual reference from 2 to 20 years. The CDC itself recommends this split.
How is BMI read in children?
As a percentile for age and sex: below the 5th is underweight, from the 5th to below the 85th is a healthy weight, from the 85th to below the 95th is overweight, and from the 95th it is obesity. A 10-year-old boy weighing 40 kg at 140 cm has a BMI of 20.4, at about the 90th percentile: overweight.
When should I worry about a percentile?
One measurement says little. Pediatricians look at the trend over several visits: a child who crosses two or more of the main percentile lines, or is below the 3rd or above the 97th, deserves a closer look.
WHO — Child Growth Standards
CDC — Growth Charts
CDC — Extended BMI-for-age growth charts