The growth chart is a way to measure the size of a child compared to other children of the same sex and the same age group. Here is how it works for height, weight, and head circumference. The horizontal line or X-axis is the age in months or years. The vertical line or Y-axis is the height in inches or centimeters, the weight in pounds or kilograms, and the head circumference in inches or centimeters. First, find your child 's age on the X-axis, and then find the height, weight or head circumference on the Y-axis. The intersection of these two lines is where your child falls. The lines on the chart inside the white area correspond to the percentile. The percentile will tell you where your child falls compared to 100 children of the same age and sex. For example, ninetieth percentile for weight in a three year old boy means that the three year old boy is heavier than 90 out of every 100 three year old boys. The fifth percentile for height in a one-year-old girl means that the one-year-old girl is taller than five out of every 100 one-year-old girls. The bottom line of the white area of the growth chart is the 5th percentile. Above that is 10th percentile, then 25th percentile and the dark line in the middle is the 50th percentile, or average. Above that is the 75th percentile, 90th percentile and finally the 95th percentile is the top line. For children whose points fall in the pink area for a girl or the blue area for a boy, you could say that they are either below the 5th percentile or above 95th percentile depending on if they are below or above the white areas. Weight for height is a measurement of how heavy a child is for their particular height. The height is on the horizontal X-axis and the weight is on the vertical Y-axis. For example, if a girl were 45 inches and 43 pounds then they would fall on the 50th percentile weight for height. That means that out of every 100-45 inch females this child is heavier than 50 out of the 100. If a boy is 41 inches tall and 44 pounds then he would fall on the 95th percentile, meaning that for every 100-41 inch tall boys he is heavier than 95 out of the 100. This measurement allows you to see a child's percentile for weight for a height instead of for an age group.

Growth Charts

Boys Birth to 3 Years 2 to 18 Years

Girls Birth to 3 Years 2 to 18 Years

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