Notes
Height for Age standard deviations from the reference median.
The NCHS/FELS/CDC reference standard only contains data for children up to the age of 18 years. For all women aged 18 and over, the value of 215 months (17 years, 11 months) is used for their age, on the assumption that women are fully grown by the age of 18. Weight-for-age indices are not included as the weight of an adult woman is very dependent on her height. For the weight-for-height indicators, the CDC standard only applies up to a height of 137 centimeters, and almost all adult women are taller than this height. For this reason the weight-for-height Z-scores and percentiles are not available. However, three measures of percent of reference median are included, one based on the Metropolitan Life or Fogarty standard, the second based on the WHO standard and a third based on a DHS standard. These indices have been adjusted for pregnant women according to duration of pregnancy.
The anthropometric indices above are based on the CDC Standard Deviation-derived Growth Reference Curves derived from the NCHS/FELS/CDC Reference Population. The measures are presented with two implied decimal places (no decimal points are included in the data file). To produce the actual measure, divide the variable by 100. If either the weight or the height of the respondent is missing, then the corresponding measures above are set to the missing code 9999 or 99999. If either the height or the weight is outside of the acceptable range for the calculation of these measures, then the corresponding measures are set to code 9998 or 99998.
