5. Recommended BMI-for-age Cutoffs

	> 95th percentile   Overweight   85th to < 95th percentile   Risk of Overweight   5th to < 85th percentile Normal Weight < 5th percentile   Underweight

The expert committees’ recommendations are to classify BMI-for-age at or above the 95th percentile as overweight and between the 85th and 95th percentile as at risk of overweight (Himes and Dietz, 1994).

"Overweight" rather than obesity is the term preferred for describing children and adolescents with a BMI-for-age equal to or greater than the 95th percentile of BMI-for-age or weight-for-length.

The 85th percentile is included on the BMI-for-age and the weight-for-stature charts to identify those at risk of overweight.

The cutoff for underweight of less than the 5th percentile is based on recommendations by the World Health Organization Expert Committee on Physical Status (World Health Organization, 1996).