BMI Basics
As of this writing, most health care professionals in the United States use the following indicators to define weight problems in teens.
Overweight: The BMI for a teen’s age and gender is greater than or equal to the 95th percentile. For instance, a sixteen-year-old girl who’s 5′3″ and weighs 175 pounds would be in the 97th percentile; a sixteen-year-old boy who’s 5′8″ and weighs 195 pounds would be in the 97th percentile. Nearly 9 out of 10 of the teens I interviewed fell into this category at their highest weight; 60 were in or above the 99th percentile before losing weight*
At risk for overweight: The BMI for a teen’s age and gender is anywhere from the 85th percentile up to but not including the 95th percentile. For instance, a sixteen-year-old girl who’s 5′3″ and weighs 150 pounds would be in the 91st percentile; a sixteen-year-old boy who’s 5′8″ and weighs 169 pounds would be in the 91st percentile. Just 7 of the teens I interviewed fell into this category at their highest weight; none were below this category.
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*BMI percentiles were not available for a small number of the teens at their highest weight.
