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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric reference data for children and adults: United States, 1988-1994
Margaret A McDowell1, Cheryl D Fryar, Cynthia L Ogden
1U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, USA.
Objective:
This report presents national anthropometric reference data for the U.S. population aged 3 months and older in 1988-1994.
Methods:
Data in this report are from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), which was conducted on a complex, stratified, multistage probability sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. A total of 31,241 persons were examined. The anthropometric measurements taken included weight, height, recumbent length, circumferences, limb lengths, joint breadths, and skinfold thicknesses. Body mass index values were computed from measured height and weight values.
Results:
The tables in this report include weighted population means, standard errors of the means, and selected percentiles of body measurement values. Because measurements varied by sex and age (and by race and ethnicity in adults), results are reported by these subgroups.
Conclusions:
These data add to the knowledge about trends in child growth and development and are useful in monitoring overweight and obesity in the U.S. population.
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