Weight-for-length for boys at 59 cm

At a length of 59 cm, the median weight for boys on the WHO Child Growth Standards is 5.71 kg (12 lb 9 oz): half of boys of this length weigh less and half more. The middle half of boys, from the 25th to the 75th percentile, falls between 5.40 and 6.04 kg, a spread of 0.65 kg. The outer lines of the chart, the 2nd and 98th percentiles, sit at 4.85 and 6.78 kg.

At 57 cm the median weight is 5.13 kg, so 2 cm of extra length goes with about 0.58 kg more weight at the median. At 61 cm it is 6.26 kg. 59 cm is close to the median length of boys at 2 months (58.4 cm). Weight-for-length compares a child's weight with other children of the same length, whatever their age, which is why it can read differently from weight-for-age for a long or a short baby.

For girls at a length of 59 cm the median is 5.62 kg, 0.09 kg less than for boys, which is why the charts are drawn separately by sex.

On the older CDC 2000 weight-for-length charts, which some clinics and websites still use before age 2, the median at a length of 59 cm is 5.63 kg. A boy exactly on the WHO median would read as about the 56th percentile there, one reason two charts can give different answers for the same weight.

Reading the table: a boy at a length of 59 cm who weighs 5.90 kg is at about the 65th percentile, meaning that out of 100 boys of that length, about 65 weigh less.