Centers for Disease Control and Prevention




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Training Module: Using the BMI-for-Age Growth Charts

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11. Summary
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 BMI-for-age is the method recommended for screening overweight and underweight in children and adolescents from 2 to 20 years of age. There are no recognized standards to satisfactorily define the lower limits of BMI-for-age for children and adolescents; however, it is reasonable to use BMI-for-age to identify children and adolescents as underweight. Research is needed to determine the validity of using BMI-for-age to screen for underweight.
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 BMI-for-age is a screening tool that may lead to further assessment to diagnose a specific health condition.
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 For children, BMI is age and gender specific and nutritional status is identified based on percentiles. For adults, BMI is neither age nor gender specific and nutritional status is defined by fixed cut points.
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 Periodic, accurate measurements and growth records are important elements of growth screening. An accurate interpretation of growth depends on the accuracy of weighing and measuring. 


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