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

Recommended BMI-for-age cutoffs
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Classifications of Overweight and Underweight for Adults

Classification of overweight and underweight is different for adults than it is for children and adolescents. For adults, overweight and underweight categories are defined by fixed BMI cutpoints derived from morbidity and mortality data. Adults with low and very high BMIs are at a higher relative mortality risk compared to those with BMIs of 18.5 or greater and less than 30.0 (Strawbridge et al., 2000). For adults, BMI is not age- or gender-specific as it is for children and adolescents.

Clinical guidelines established in 1998 by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute are as follows:


BMI less than 18.5

underweight

BMI of 18.5 through 24.9

normal

BMI of 25.0 through 29.9

overweight

BMI of 30.0 or greater

obese

 

 

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