Is my child's weight normal for his or her age?

This is one of the most common questions parents have and it's not always easy to answer. There is a wide range of healthy shapes and sizes of children of the same age. Generally, girls tend to weigh less than boys – a trend that continues into adulthood – but not all kids have the same body type or develop at the same rate.

Growth charts like the ones used by ACFS (left) are an important tool for monitoring children's development, but they are just one of the tools used to ensure a child is growing and developing normally.

You are welcome to download our chart for Boys or download chart for Girls.

The bottom of the chart shows ages, from 2-18 years. The left and right sides of the chart show weight in kilograms. Find your child's age and follow the graph up until you reach the horizontal line for your child's weight. Then see where that point is among the percentile lines.

The curves represent what percentage of children are of the same weight. The 50th percentile represents the median weight for each age group, ie: 50% of children will be above this point and 50% will be below it.

The top curved line shows the 97% percentile, which means that 97% of children are at or under that weight, whereas the bottom curve shows that only 3% of children are at or under this weight.

If you are concerned about your child's weight, consult your doctor or paediatrician.