What is the BMI percentile for the 3-year-old patient in the record?

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Pediatric BMI percentile is about where a child’s BMI sits on a chart that compares kids of the same age and sex. For a 3-year-old, you take the weight and height, calculate BMI, and then see where that number falls on the BMI-for-age growth curves. Those curves have percentiles: below the 5th is at the low end (often considered underweight), the 5th to just under the 85th is roughly in a healthy range, the 85th to just under the 95th is overweight, and the 95th and above is obesity.

If the record shows the BMI percentile at the 3rd percentile, that means the child’s BMI is lower than most peers of the same age and sex—about 97% of their peers have a higher BMI. That places the measurement at the 3rd percentile, which is why this choice fits. The other percentile values would indicate higher BMI relative to peers, which wouldn’t align with a reading at the low end of the chart.