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Pediatric Coding:
Differentiate Between Child and Adult BMI Calculations
Published on Tue Oct 29, 2024
Question: Can I use the equation for calculating adult body mass index (BMI) — (weight in pounds x 703 divided by height in inches) — to determine a child’s BMI? Michigan Subscriber Answer: Although adult BMIs are calculated with an equation, which uses either metric measurements — (weight in kilograms) divided by (height in meters, squared) — or standard measurements, as you described, pediatric BMIs are tied to percentiles of their respective age and sex. For example, a “normal” BMI for a 4-year-old boy would be different than a 7-year-old girl, even if the BMI number itself is the same. If you don’t want to do the math for every patient, you can use the by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which incorporates the relevant percentile information. Note that BMI values are not available for children 2 or younger via this calculator. The current ICD-10-CM codes for pediatric BMI values are: Rachel Dorrell, MA, MS, CPC-A, CPPM, Development Editor, AAPC 
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