Overweight: 85th percentile to the 95th percentile; Obese: 95th percentile or higher; For example, a 6-year-old boy with a 75th percentile BMI has a higher BMI than 75 out of 100 6-year-old boys ...

BMI is a scale that defines obesity by taking body weight and height into account. Children whose weight puts them in the 95th percentile, or heavier than 95 percent of children their age ...

The CDC's new charts extend BMI-for-age growth charts to 60 kg/m2 with four new percentile curves above the 95th percentile. Prior to the update, BMI charts for children ages 2 to 19 had been ...

Further findings included that, for kids and adolescents with a BMI at the 95th percentile, the probability of a high FMI or percentage of body fat was approximately 60%, they noted.

Last year, the CDC updated its 22-year-old pediatric BMI-for-age growth charts to add BMIs above the 97th percentile for the first time in order to track severe obesity in children aged 2 to 19 years.

For the comparisons, the researchers considered "high BMI" to be at or above the 95th percentile of the CDC growth charts, which is also often used as a cutoff for obesity.

The average weight for 13-year-olds is different for boys and girls, and puberty and genetics can also factor in. Learn the average weight and BMI for a 13-year-old here.

An adult BMI of 25.0-29.9 is considered overweight and a BMI of 30 or over is considered obese. In children ages 2 to 19 years, BMI is measured as a percentile within a child’s age and sex.

Study reveals that city-level sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes significantly reduce body mass index (BMI) percentiles in children and adolescents. The findings support SSB taxation as a viable ...

More information: Chang Liu et al, Early-Life Factors and Body Mass Index Trajectories Among Children in the ECHO Cohort, JAMA Network Open (2025). DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.11835 Journal ...