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Table 2 Evaluation of quality parameters (standard deviation, percentage of flags, skewness, excess kurtosis, normality) for anthropometric indices among children 6–59 months, overall and by age group

From: Comparison of anthropometric data quality in children aged 6-23 and 24-59 months: lessons from population-representative surveys from humanitarian settings

Indicator

 

SD

(mean)

% Flag

(mean)

Skewness

(mean)

% Skewed

(+/−  0.5 cutoffs)

% Skewed negative

% Skewed positive

Kurtosis (mean)

% Kurtosis

(+/−  1 cutoffs)

% excess kurtosis negative

% excess kurtosis positive

% Non-Normal (Shapiro)

WHZ

Children 6-59 m

1.05

0.36

− 0.09

1.9%

1.4%

0.5%

0.30

3.0%

0.0%

3.0%

45.7%

Children 6–23 m

1.11

0.49

−0.05

3.1%

1.8%

1.3%

0.17

4.1%

0.0%

4.1%

16.0%

Children 24–59 m

1.07

0.28

−0.07

3.4%

2.3%

1.1%

0.36

9.6%

0.0%

9.6%

38.3%

Differencea

0.10***

0.21***

0.01

−0.3%

–

–

− 0.18***

−5.5%***

–

–

−22.3%***

Correlationb

0.56***

0.40***

0.30***

–

–

–

0.18***

–

–

–

–

% youngerc better

14.3%

21.9

51.0%

–

–

–

54.8%

–

–

–

–

WAZ

Children 6–59 m

1.04

0.19

−0.07

1.4%

1.3%

0.1%

0.27

3.7%

0.0%

3.7%

42.4%

Children 6–23 m

1.13

0.33

−0.03

3.8%

2.0%

1.8%

0.13

3.9%

0.0%

3.9%

13.6%

Children 24–59 m

0.98

0.09

−0.12

4.4%

3.8%

0.6%

0.28

9.0%

0.0%

9.0%

35.8%

Differencea

0.15***

0.24***

0.09***

−0.6%

–

–

− 0.15***

−5.0%***

–

–

−22.2%***

Correlationb

0.59***

0.23***

0.15***

–

–

–

0.17***

–

–

–

–

% youngerc better

5.5%

10.4%

52.8%

–

–

–

50.6%

–

–

–

–

HAZ

Children 6–59 m

1.22

1.00

0.03

1.1%

0.4%

0.7%

0.11

2.5%

0.0%

2.5%

38.9%

Children 6–23 m

1.26

1.52

0.03

3.7%

1.1%

2.6%

0.05

1.4%

0.0%

1.4%

17.3%

Children 24–59 m

1.18

0.67

0.01

3.7%

2.0%

1.7%

0.14

3.9%

0.0%

3.9%

33.9%

Differencea

0.08***

0.86***

0.02*

0.0%

–

–

−0.10***

−2.5%***

–

–

−16.6%***

Correlationb

0.69***

0.75***

0.30***

–

–

–

0.31***

–

–

–

–

% youngerc better

25.6%

14.5%

47.9%

–

–

–

51.8%

–

–

–

–

MUACZ

Children 6–59 m

0.96

0.13

−0.11

3.6%

3.3%

0.3%

0.32

28.2%

0.3%

27.9%

41.0%

Children 6–23 m

1.02

0.17

−0.13

9.0%

8.6%

0.3%

0.31

32.3%

3.4%

28.9%

26.5%

Children 24–59 m

0.91

0.10

−0.11

5.8%

5.4%

0.4%

0.26

26.1%

1.6%

24.5%

32.2%

Differencea

0.10***

0.08***

−0.03*

3.1%*

–

–

0.05*

6.3%*

–

–

−5.7%*

Correlationb

0.58***

0.19***

0.25***

–

–

–

0.06

–

–

–

–

% youngerc better

10.4%

15.5%

42.0%

–

–

–

43.0%

–

–

–

–

BMIZ

Children 6–59 m

1.08

1.56

−0.09

1.3%

0.8%

0.5%

0.29

26.4%

0.4%

26.0%

43.3%

Children 6–23 m

1.14

2.14

−0.08

3.8%

3.0%

0.8%

0.16

23.7%

4.6%

19.1%

15.7%

Children 24–59 m

1.04

1.24

−0.05

3.0%

1.5%

1.5%

0.35

35.1%

0.8%

34.3%

34.3%

Differencea

0.10***

0.89***

−0.03**

0.8%

–

–

−0.19***

−11.4%***

–

–

−18.5%***

Correlationb

0.63***

0.82***

0.30***

–

–

–

0.18***

–

–

–

–

% youngerc better

16.4%

25.8%

51.8%

–

–

–

56.2%

–

–

–

–

  1. WHZ Weight-for-height z-zcore, WAZ Weight-for-age z-score, HAZ Height-for-age z-score, MUACZ Mid-upper arm circumference-for-age z-score, BMIZ BMI-for-age z-score, SD Standard deviation
  2. P-values were calculated using parametric tests
  3. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001
  4. a Mean difference between 6–23 and 24–59 months age groups
  5. b Correlation between 6–23 and 24–59 age groups
  6. cPercentage of surveys where absolute values for age group 6–23 months were lower than absolute values for age group 24–59 months
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