What are the percentiles

• April 26, 2024

The percentiles or growth charts are measures that help assess a child's development in relation to a standard range. The parameters that are measured are height, weight and head circumference. They are used mainly in the first years of life.

When the pediatrician takes the measurements of a child, he compares them with the standards that are considered normal in children of his age and sex. The results obtained are interpreted as percentiles average.

In any percentile calculation, 50 is the mean. This means that a baby that is in a percentile 50, weighs / measures the same as 50% of children of the same age and sex.

In the next video the Dr. Corzo explains the system percentile :

It is important to mention that in general the line of percentiles corresponds to normal parameters, and within what is considered normal there are children who genetically tend to be thinner than others; in the same way there will be children taller than others.

The little ones who exceed their measures of both weight as a size they would be above a percentile 97, while those that are very thin or very short would be below a percentile 3.

The ideal is not to have a percentile high, but that children develop more or less regularly around the same percentile .

Video Medicine: Percentiles - Introductory Statistics (April 2024).