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Growth Charts and Your Child

Doctors use growth charts and body mass index charts to compare a child's measurements with those of other children in the same age group. By doing this, doctors can track a child's growth over time and monitor how a child is growing in relation to other children. The growth charts your doctor uses for this purpose are a standard part of any checkup.

Doctors use growth charts and body mass index charts to compare a child's measurements with those of other children in the same age group. By doing this, doctors can track a child's growth over time and monitor how a child is growing in relation to other children. The growth charts your doctor uses for this purpose are a standard part of any checkup.

There are different charts for boys and girls because their growth rates and patterns differ. For both boys and girls there are two sets of charts: one for infants ages 0 to 36 months and another for children ages 2 to 20 years old. The charts show the range of heights and weights at a certain age of thousands of children from across the country.

Looking at the Charts
The new charts represent the most recently published standards for U.S. children, which were created in 2001. By plotting your child's measurements on these charts, doctors are able to compare your child's growth patterns with data collected on thousands of U.S. children.

Remember that only those measurements that are obtained in your child's doctor's office or taken by another properly skilled person should be plotted. Home measurements are frequently inaccurate and can lead to faulty data.

Let's take a look at the commonly used standard growth charts.
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