Physical measurements of 9- to 12-year-old children in Kansas

Measurements of height, weight, triceps, skinfold, and arm circumference were obtained from 3,231 Kansas children 9 to 12 years old as part of the Nutrition Education and Training Needs Assessment Project. Data were collected in 97 schools randomly selected throughout the state. Participating fifth grade students were divided equally between boys and girls; approximately 95% were Caucasian, 3.4% were black, and the remainder were from other ethnic groups, a profile similar to that of the Kansas population. Girls and boys in the study sample tended to be taller and to weigh more than girls and boys of similar age in national studies. Because of adolescent growth spurts, which differ among individuals, the data would need to be interpreted with caution if individual students' growth patterns were being assessed. Kansas girls and boys also tended to have larger triceps skinfold and arm fat area measurements than their counterparts in the NHANES I study. Those data, coupled with the tendency toward greater weight, suggested a greater incidence of overweight among Kansas children than among elementary school children nationally.