Enhancing Coordination Among the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and National Institutes of Health.

This paper focuses on the relationships among the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF); Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ); and NIH.

Development of bioelectrical impedance analysis prediction equations for body composition with the use of a multicomponent model for use in epidemiologic surveys.

Background: Previous studies to develop and validate bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) equations to predict body composition were limited by small sample sizes, sex specificity, and reliance on reference methods that use a 2-component model.

Objective: This study was designed to develop sex-specific BIA equations to predict total body water (TBW) and fat-free mass (FFM) with the use of a multicomponent model for children and adults.

Design: Data from 5 centers were pooled to create a sample of 1474 whites and 355 blacks aged 12-94 y.

Summary of the 2000 Surgeon General's listening session: toward a national action plan on overweight and obesity.

Objective: To provide insight into discussions at the Surgeon General's Listening Session, "Toward a National Action Plan on Overweight and Obesity," and to complement The Surgeon General's Call to Action to Prevent and Decrease Overweight and Obesity.

Research Methods And Procedures: On December 7 and 8, 2000, representatives from federal, state, academic, and private sectors attended the Surgeon General's Listening Session and were given an opportunity to recommend what to include in a national plan to address overweight and obesity. The public was invited to comment during a corresponding public comment period.

2000 CDC Growth Charts for the United States: methods and development.

Objectives: This report provides detailed information on how the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts for the United States were developed, expanding upon the report that accompanied the initial release of the charts in 2000.

Methods: The growth charts were developed with data from five national health examination surveys and limited supplemental data. Smoothed percentile curves were developed in two stages.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2000 growth charts for the United States: improvements to the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics version.

Objective: To present a clinical version of the 2000 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) growth charts and to compare them with the previous version, the 1977 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) growth charts.

Methods: The 2000 CDC percentile curves were developed in 2 stages. In the first stage, the empirical percentiles were smoothed by a variety of parametric and nonparametric procedures.

Statistical effects of varying sample sizes on the precision of percentile estimates.

The present study evaluates the precision of outlying percentile estimates, with age- and sex-associated variations and facilitates decisions needed to revise the current NCHS 1977 Growth Charts with regard to 1) the inclusion of 3(rd) and 97(th) percentiles and 2) the selection of survey data for the construction of the revised growth charts. Simulation was performed to obtain data with distribution characteristics similar to those of The Third National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES III) (1988-1991) data. NHANES III consists of a two-phase, 6-year, complex stratified multistage probability cluster, cross-sectional survey conducted from 1988 through 1994 to represent the US noninstitutionalized population.

Weight, stature, and body mass index data for Mexican Americans from the third national health and nutrition examination survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994).

Selected age- and sex-specific percentiles are presented for 4,054 Mexican American children ages 1-18 years who were included in the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III, 1988-1994). These percentile values are compared with corresponding percentiles for Mexican Americans from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES, 1982-1984). In each sex, the weight and weight/stature(2) percentiles from NHANES III were significantly larger than those from HHANES.

Reference data for arm muscle and arm adipose tissue areas in Mexican Americans from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination survey (HHANES 1982-1984): Comparisons with whites and blacks from NHANES II (1976-1980).

Data for arm muscle area (AMA) and arm adipose tissue area (AATA) from 3695 Mexican American children 6 months to 18 years of age included in HHANES (1982-1984) were used to obtain age-and gender-specific means and selected percentiles. These statistics were compared with those for non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children from NHANES II (1976-1980). In comparison with non-Hispanic white and non-Hispanic black children, the Mexican American children tended to have smaller means and percentile values for AMA but larger values for AATA.

Head circumference for Mexican American infants and young children from the Hispanic health and nutrition examination survey (HHANES 1982-1984): Comparisons with Whites and Blacks from NHANES II (1976-1980).

This study presents descriptive statistics for head circumference in Mexican American children 6 months to 7 years of age using data from the Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES, 1982-1984) and compares these statistics with national estimates of head circumference for non-Hispanic White children and non-Hispanic Black children from the Second National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES II, 1976-1980). Head circumference was measured in the same standardized fashion in the two surveys. The patterns of change with age in means and in empirical percentiles were similar for both genders and for all three ethnic groups.