Applicability of NCHS height-for-age weight-for-age reference values to Sri Lankan school children

Abstract

Height-for-age sndweight-for-age of children drawn from the upper socio-economic-educational households in Sri LAnka have been compared with the corresponding NCHS reference values. Results indicate that the NCHS height-for-age reference values for children between 5 and 9 years of age are "attainable" by Sri Lankan children, except at centiles above the 75th. The NCHS weight-for-age reference value are well above the corresponding values for Sri Lankan children between 10 and 18 years of age. Between 5 and 9 years of age, Sri Lankan girls are significantly lighter than the NCHS population. There is no significant difference between weights of boys, 5 to 9 years, in the two populations. The advisability of using NCHS reference values for weight-for-height for assessing the degree of "wasting" in Sri Lankan children is questioned