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Body Mass Index calculator for children from the CDC Weight: (pounds) Height: (feet) Height: (inches) BMI: As children grow, their body fatness changes over the years. The interpretation of BMI depends on the child’s age. Additionally, girls and boys differ in their body fatness as they mature. How does your child rate among others? Use the following CDC charts to find out: (Requires the Adobe Acrobat reader) · Girls      · Boys (Information and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)

Such conclusions, however, may not apply to athletic children who weigh more because of muscle, not fat.

"The [BMI] chart doesn't account for everything," acknowledges Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala. But, she adds, it is "an early warning signal that is helpful as early as age 2. This means that parents have an opportunity to change their children's eating habits before a weight problem ever develops."

About 10 percent of all U.S. children and half of the adults are overweight, Shalala told CNN. "Being concerned about what children eat when they're very young is important. It sets patterns for the long run."

But if bad nutritional habits go unchecked, they can lead to health problems, said Dr. Susan Baker, head of the nutrition committee of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

"Obesity is associated with diabetes, with heart disease, with high blood pressure," Baker said. "We're hopeful having the BMI available to us will focus us, as pediatricians, on this trend and help us intervene early."

Reversing the trend toward overweight children means raising public awareness of the problem, Baker told CNN, with the new charts being just one, small step in that direction. "The solutions will not be simple. We won't have a shot or pill or anything," she said.

Perhaps the best advice is the simplest. Said Shalala: "Do everything in moderation."