|  | Family Health | Childrens Health

Ideal Weight Calculators for Children

Every child grows at a different rate regarding their weight and height. Disabilities can effect the way a child should grow and gain weight. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention designed charts that provide an outline of what children should weigh based on their age. The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry estimates that as of 2008, between 16 and 33 percent of kids and teenagers face problems with obesity.

  1. Calculators

    • A baby growth calculator provides information on a baby's weight percentile based on their age. The calculations provide doctors and parents the information based on where your child falls weight-wise compared to other infants the same age. The body mass index calculator determines the body mass index for children ages 2 to 20. Girl's develop differently and faster than boys, so the charts are different for both sexes. To correctly identify the body mass index, you must first weight the child correctly.

    How to Use the Infant Calculator

    • Infants grow fast the first 24 months of their life. The infant calculator takes information such as the sex of the child, birth date and their current weight. Once these numbers are recorded, doctors can reference the chart and place the numbers, determining the percentage of the individual child. The final calculation will give parents an understanding of where their child fits weight-wise compared to other infants of the same sex and age frame.

    Using the BMI Calculator

    • The BMI calculator works for children ages 3 to 20. Using a digital scale rather than a spring loaded scale will provide a more precise reading when obtaining weight. Remove all heavy items -- shoes, wallet and heavy sweaters -- prior to weighing. Measure the child's height by standing the child up against a wall barefoot. Form a right angle with the wall using some type of object above the child's head to obtain the correct height. The weight measurement is then added to the height measurement in inches and again add the height measurement in inches with finally multiplying that number by 703. Use the end result to place onto the percentile chart for either sex.

    Benefits of Weight Calculations in Children

    • Knowing your child's ideal weight according to the charts provided by the Center of Disease Control and Prevention will allow parents and physicians to monitor the types of eating habits that their children have. Overweight children can experience health risks such as high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and asthma. Being overweight can effect a child's self-esteem, which can lead to poor grades in school and social problems as they get older. If a child is underweight, there may be a health condition or eating disorder that needs to be addressed before it does permanent damage to the child.

Childrens Health - Related Articles