International Board of Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) Practice Exam

What percentage of children would weigh more than a child at the 75th percentile for weight?

1. 15%

2. 25%

3. 50%

4. 10%

The correct answer is: 25%

To determine the percentage of children who would weigh more than a child at the 75th percentile for weight, it's important to understand how percentiles work. A child at the 75th percentile means that they weigh more than 75% of children in the reference population. Consequently, this indicates that the remaining 25% of children weigh more than this child. In this context, when we say a child is at the 75th percentile, we recognize that 75% of children fall below that weight. Therefore, by definition, 25% of the children will weigh more than the child at the 75th percentile. This is grounded in the concept of cumulative distribution in a normal distribution, where the area to the left of any given percentile represents the percentage of the population that falls into that range. Thus, 25% is the correct percentage of children who would weigh more than a child at the 75th percentile for weight.