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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Anthropometric reference data for children and adults: United States, 2003–2006
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, Division of Health Care Statistics, Hyattsville, Maryland 20782, USA.
Abstract:
Objective-This report presents national anthropometric reference data for all ages of the U.S. population in 2003-2006, adding to results published previously from 1960-2002. Methods-Data are from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a complex, stratified, and multistage probability sample of the civilian, noninstitutionalized U.S. population. Anthropometry measurements were obtained from 19,593 survey participants. The anthropometric measures included weight, height, recumbent length, circumferences, limb lengths, and skinfold thickness measurements. 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 (as well as race and ethnicity in adults), results are reported by these subgroups. Conclusions-These latest NHANES data add to the knowledge about trends in child growth and development and trends in the distribution of body measurements, such as weight and height, in the U.S. population .
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