Advance Data No. 314 — December 4, 2000
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Table 1. United States growth charts and data sources
| Chart | Age (months) or height (cm) range | Primary data sources1 | Supplemental data sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight-for-age | Birth to 36 months | National surveys 3–52 | National birth certificate data from United States Vital Statistics2 |
| Length-for-age | Birth to 36 months | National surveys 3–52,3 | Birth certificate data from Wisconsin and Missouri State Vital Statistics2,4 CDC Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System data for birth to 5 months2 |
| Head circumference-for-age | Birth to 36 months | National surveys 3–52 | Fels Longitudinal Study data2 |
| Weight-for-length | 45–103 cm | National surveys 3–52,5 | Birth certificate data from Wisconsin and Missouri State Vital Statistics2 |
| Weight-for-stature | 77–121 cm | National surveys 3–55 | None |
| Weight-for-age | 24 to 240 months | National surveys 1–55 | None |
| Stature-for-age | 24 to 240 months | National surveys 1–5 | None |
| BMI-for-age | 24 to 240 months | National surveys 1–55 | None |
1Survey 1=NHES II, Survey 2=NHES III, Survey 3=NHANES I, Survey 4=NHANES II, Survey 5=NHANES III.
2Excludes birth weight less than or equal to 1500 gm.
3Excludes data from NHANES III for ages less than 3.5 months.
4Wisconsin and Missouri were the only States with available data from birth certificates.
5Excludes data from NHANES III for ages greater than 72 months.
Table 2. Data sets used to construct the United States growth charts, by age of subject and growth chart variable
| Data set | Years | Data source | Subject ages (months)1 | Sex | Chart variable2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary data sets | |||||
| NHES II. | 1963–65 | National survey | 72.0–145.9 | M, F | W, S, BMI |
| NHES III | 1966–70 | National survey | 144.0–217.9 | M, F | W, S, |
| NHANES I | 1971–74 | National survey | 12.0–23.9 | M, F | L |
| 12.0–35.9 | M, F | HC | |||
| 12.0–281.9 | M | W | |||
| 12.0–245.9 | F | W | |||
| 18.0–305.9 | M, F | S | |||
| 18.0–305.9 | M, F | BMI3 | |||
| NHANES II | 1976–80 | National survey | 6.0–35.9 | M, F | L, HC |
| 6.0–281.9 | M | W | |||
| 6.0–245.9 | F | W | |||
| 18.0–305.9 | M, F | S | |||
| 18.0–305.9 | M, F | BMI3 | |||
| NHANES III | 1988–94 | National survey | 3.0–35.9 | M, F | L |
| 2.0–35.9 | M, F | HC | |||
| 2.0–71.9 | M, F | W | |||
| 18.0–305.9 | M, F | S | |||
| 18.0–71.9 | M, F | BMI3 | |||
| Supplemental data sets | |||||
| United States Vital Statistics | 1968–80; 1985–94 | Birth certificates | Birth | M, F | W |
| State of Wisconsin Vital Statistics | 1989–94 | Birth certificates | Birth | M, F | W, L4 |
| State of Missouri Vital Statistic | 1989–94 | Birth certificates | Birth | M, F | W, L4 |
| Fels Longitudinal Study | 1960–94 | Hospital records† | Birth | M, F | HC |
| Pediatric Nutrition Surveillance System (selected clinics) | 1975–95 | Clinic records | 0.01–4.9 | M, F | L |
1Data beyond the 2–20 years range for the child/adolescent charts were used to improve estimates at the upper and lower age boundaries. The final child/adolescent growth charts were truncated to extend only from 2.0 through 19.99 years (24.0–239.99 months). Subject ages, shown for growth chart variables, reflect the endpoints of age ranges for data actually used to construct the smoothed percentile curves.
2W=weight; S=stature; BMI=body mass index; L=length; HC=head circumference.
3BMI (wt/stature2) includes lengths at ages 18.0–23.99 months, and stature at all other ages.
4Data from Wisconsin and Missouri were used at birth for the length-for-age and weight-for-length charts, but were not used in the infant weight-for-age charts (see also table 1).
†Measured in hospital by Fels staff.
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