What ages does this chart cover?

CDC stature-for-age and weight-for-age LMS reference data run from 24 months (2 years) through 240 months (20 years). For infants under 2, clinicians use WHO Child Growth Standards instead.

Why does my child’s percentile change over time?

A single percentile is a snapshot. Children commonly “track” along a band — for example, near the 25th percentile — but small shifts visit to visit are normal. Persistent crossing of two or more bands is what pediatricians watch for.

Is the 50th percentile “the right” size?

No. The 50th is just the median. Healthy children fall anywhere across the chart; what matters is steady growth along a band, not which band.

Why do boys and girls use different curves?

Average growth differs by sex, especially during puberty, so the CDC publishes separate LMS reference data for each.

Is my child’s data sent anywhere?

No — every lookup runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored or transmitted.

Pediatric Growth Chart

Written by Golam Rabbani, Founder & Lead Engineer — Last updated 2026-05-01

This interactive tool requires JavaScript. Read the formula and worked example below; you can compute the result by hand.

How to use this pediatric growth chart

Enter the child’s age in completed years and (optionally) additional months.
Pick the child’s sex at birth so the tool uses the correct CDC reference curve.
Enter the height in cm or inches — leave blank to skip the height percentile.
Enter the weight in kg or lbs — leave blank to skip the weight percentile.
Press “Look up percentile” to see each measurement against the CDC 2000 growth chart bands.
Use Copy to save the percentiles or Reset to clear every field.

About this pediatric growth chart

The pediatric growth chart tool looks up a child’s height-for-age and weight-for-age percentiles against the U.S. CDC 2000 pediatric growth charts. Percentiles answer a clinically useful question that raw numbers can’t: of 100 children of the same age and sex, where does this child fall? Most clinicians watch for the band a child grows along over time more than any single measurement.

The math uses the CDC LMS reference data (Kuczmarski RJ, Ogden CL, Guo SS, et al., 2002). For each (sex, age in months) pair the CDC publishes three parameters L, M, S; we compute z = ((X/M)^L − 1) / (L · S) when L ≠ 0 (or ln(X/M)/S when L = 0), then convert z to a percentile using the standard-normal distribution. The tool then bins the result into the standard pediatric chart bands: below the 3rd, 3rd–10th, 10th–90th, 90th–97th, and above the 97th.

Worked example: a 6-year-old girl who is 117 cm tall has stature-for-age z ≈ 0.0 — about the 50th percentile, right on the median curve.

This tool is for general information using CDC pediatric LMS reference data and is not a substitute for advice from a qualified clinician. This calculator is for general educational purposes only and is not medical advice — consult a licensed healthcare professional for personal guidance.

FAQ

What ages does this chart cover?: CDC stature-for-age and weight-for-age LMS reference data run from 24 months (2 years) through 240 months (20 years). For infants under 2, clinicians use WHO Child Growth Standards instead.
Why does my child’s percentile change over time?: A single percentile is a snapshot. Children commonly “track” along a band — for example, near the 25th percentile — but small shifts visit to visit are normal. Persistent crossing of two or more bands is what pediatricians watch for.
Is the 50th percentile “the right” size?: No. The 50th is just the median. Healthy children fall anywhere across the chart; what matters is steady growth along a band, not which band.
Why do boys and girls use different curves?: Average growth differs by sex, especially during puberty, so the CDC publishes separate LMS reference data for each.
Is my child’s data sent anywhere?: No — every lookup runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is stored or transmitted.