Sustainable Development Goals - 17 Goals to Transform our World

End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture

Indicator 2.2.2: Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)

Percent of children ages 0 to 5 years with wasting (very low weight-for-length/height) in the US

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This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from US statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from US statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other US-specific metadata information.

Actual indicator available Percent of children under 5 years with weight-for-height/length <2 standard deviations below (wasting) or >2 standard deviations above (overweight) the median weight-for-length/height
Actual indicator available - description
Date of national source publication October, 2015
Method of computation
Periodicity Biannually (every 2 years)
Scheduled update by national source
U.S. method of computation The NHANES data were merged with the expanded WHO growth chart files of weight-for-length/height for boys and girls by age. For the wasting estimate, the number of children 5 and younger with weight-for-length/height 2 or more standard deviations below the median weight-for-length/height was divided by the total number of children from birth through 5 years and the result was multiplied by 100. For the overweight estimate, the number of children with weight-for-length/height 2 or more standard deviations above the median weight-for-length/height was divided by the total number of children from birth through 5 years and the result was multiplied by 100. The numbers and resulting estimates are weighted to be nationally representative.
Comments and limitations Estimates reported pertain to the 2-year pooled NHANES data. The estimates for percent wasting and overweight met the NCHS standards for reliability and precision and the confidence interval width for both estimates was less than 5 percent.
Date metadata updated December 2016
Disaggregation geography
Unit of measurement
Disaggregation categories
International and national references
Time period 2000-2014
Scheduled update by SDG team

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator name Prevalence of malnutrition (weight for height >+2 or <-2 standard deviation from the median of the WHO Child Growth Standards) among children under 5 years of age, by type (wasting and overweight)
Target name By 2030, end all forms of malnutrition, including achieving, by 2025, the internationally agreed targets on stunting and wasting in children under 5 years of age, and address the nutritional needs of adolescent girls, pregnant and lactating women and older persons.
Global indicator description
UN designated tier 1
UN custodial agency UNICEF (Partnering agencies: WHO)
Link to UN metadata Link opens in a new window
Organisation Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics/National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Agency Staff Name Division of Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Agency Survey Dataset Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics/National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
Notes
Title
Link to data source http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/index.htm opens in a new window

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