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hw70 and hw71 pre-WHO standards [message #18762]

Fri, 14 February 2020 09:57

joegrange
Messages: 5
Registered: February 2020

Member

Hi all,

I see hw70 and hw71 represent height and weight for age z scores relative to modern WHO population standards. These seem to be available only after the production of these WHO standards. For example, the 1999 Zimbabwe survey does not have these variables. I see in later report years, the 1999 Zim data was re-analyzed with these WHO standards to produce comparable stunting and wasting values.

Are there any plans to retrospectively include hw70 and hw71 in surveys that pre-dated the WHO standards? If not, are there WHO standard distributions available somewhere so that we could translate the raw anthro measurements into z scores with this modern reference?

Thanks,
Joe

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Re: hw70 and hw71 pre-WHO standards [message #18763 is a reply to message #18762]

Fri, 14 February 2020 10:53

Trevor-DHS
Messages: 802
Registered: January 2013

Senior Member

You can find the WHO standard z-scores in the Height and Weight Scores (HW) files (see https://www.dhsprogram.com/data/dataset/Zimbabwe_Standard-DH S_1999.cfm for an example). There is a document included in the zipped HW files that explains how to combine them with the other datasets from the survey.

I should, though, point out that the standard analysis of anthropometry data conducted by DHS is performed using the HC variables (HC70, HC71, HC72) from the PR file, and not the HW variables in the KR or BR files. There may be good reason for you to use the KR or BR file in your analysis, but I wanted to let you know. You can find more details about how DHS calculates anthropometry indicators in the Guide to DHS Statistics by searching for Nutritional Status.

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Re: hw70 and hw71 pre-WHO standards [message #18764 is a reply to message #18763]

Fri, 14 February 2020 10:55

joegrange
Messages: 5
Registered: February 2020

Member

Thank you so much!

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