Anthropometric Indicators Measurement Guide, 2003 Edition

This revised guide provides information on the anthropometric impact indicators and the annual monitoring indicators for Maternal and Child Health/Child Survival (MCH/CS) and income related activities. The focus is on the collection and reporting of indicators to improve program management and document progress towards the achievement of results.

Chapters are included on:

• Anthropometric evaluation and annual monitoring indicators

• Collecting anthropometric data through surveys

• Weighing and measuring equipment

• Taking measurements

• Comparisons of anthropometric data to reference standards

• Data analysis

• Annual monitoring indicators

Download 2003 Anthropomentric Indicators Measurement Guide [826kb] Download 2003 Guide de Mesure des Indicateurs Anthropométriques [1.06 mb]
Section Title	Pages	Size
Table of Contents and Section 1. Introduction	1-9	150 kb
Section 2. Anthropometric and Annual Monitoring Indicators	10-13	136 kb
Section 3. Collecting Anthropometric Data Through Surveys	14-16	106 kb
Section 4. Weighing and Measuring Equipment	17-22	139 kb
Section 5. Taking Measurements	23-38	382 kb
Section 6. Comparison of Anthropometric Data to Reference Standards	39-42	111 kb
Section 7. Data Analysis	43-48	154 kb
Section 8. Annual Monitoring Indicators	49-50	93 kb
Section 9. References and Appendices	51-92	413 kb

Anthropometric Tools: WHO/NCHS Reference Tables for Children

References are used to standardize a child's measurement by comparing the child's measurement with the median or average measure for a reference population of healthy children of the same age and sex. When describing differences from the reference, a standardized numeric value must be used to enable children of different ages and sex to be compared. Taking age and sex into consideration differences in measurements can be expressed a number of ways, however USAID recommends that calculations use standard deviation units (or Z-scores) as a basis for comparison.

The reference standards most commonly used to standardize measurements were developed by the US National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in 1978 and are recommended for international use by the World Health Organization. The reference population chosen by NCHS was a statistically valid random population of healthy infants and children.

The following WHO/NCHS tables present the median and the values for -1, -2 and -3 standard deviations from the median for:

Table 1: Length and height (in centimeters) by age (to 23 months and 24 to 60 months)
for boys and girls

Table 2: Weight (in kilograms) by age (to 60 months) for boys and girls

Table 3: Weight (in kilograms) by length (49 to 93 cm) for boys and girls

Table 4: Weight (in kilograms) by height (76 to 117.5 cm) for boys and girls

It is important to note that data for these tables come from two different child populations. The data for the age grouping 0-23 months is based on studies from the Fels Research Institute in Yellow Springs, Ohio. The 24-60 month age grouping draws from national samples of the National Center for Health Statistics. Furthermore, in Table 1 recumbent body length is given for the age group of 0-23 months. Standing height is provided for ages 24 to 60 months. This accounts for minor inconsistencies at the point of overlap.

Anthropometric Tools and Resource Materials: IFAD publication

For more information on the use of anthropometry, see the recent publication produced by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Practical Anthropometry 101 and 102. This document offers tools for preparing a survey and suggestions for collecting anthropometric measures of children.