Table of Contents

Component Description

The Early Childhood questionnaire (variable name prefix ECQ) section of the Sample Person Questionnaire provides personal interview data for children, including the age of the biological mother when the child participant was born, smoking habits of the mother while she was pregnant with the participant, birth weight and the proxy’s assessment of the participant’s current weight.

Eligible Sample

Participants aged birth to 15 years were eligible. However, the ages of participation for some questions in this section vary. Please review the codebook carefully. Frequency counts were verified during the preparation of the file.

Interview Setting and Mode of Administration

These questions were asked, in the home, by trained interviewers using the Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) system.

For details on the administration of the ECQ_J, please refer to the NHANES 2017-18 Interviewer Procedures Manual and the Early Childhood Sample Person Participant Questionnaire on the NHANES website.

Quality Assurance & Quality Control

The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in defining key terms used in the questionnaire.

For details on the quality control/quality assurance process for this component, please refer to the NHANES 2017-18 Interviewer Procedures Manual on the NHANES website.

Data Processing and Editing

Frequency counts were verified during the preparation of the file.

For ECD010 (age of biological mother when the sample participant was born), any reported values under 14 years were coded as 14 years and younger and any reported values over 45 years were coded as 45 years and older. This was done to protect the confidentiality of participants.

For ECD070A (weight at birth, pounds) and ECD070B (weight at birth, ounces), all responses of 3 pounds or under were collapsed into a single category with ECD070A coded as “3” and ECD070B coded as “0.” Similarly, for ECD070A and ECD070B all responses of 11 pounds or over were collapsed into a single category, with ECD070A coded as “11” and ECD070B coded as “0.” This was done to protect the confidentiality of survey participants.

Analytic Notes

Although data in this file were collected as part of the household questionnaire, if they are merged with the MEC exam data, exam sample weights should be used for the analyses.

Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic issues.

Codebook and Frequencies

SEQN - Respondent sequence number

Variable Name:
SEQN
SAS Label:
Respondent sequence number
English Text:
Respondent sequence number.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS

ECD010 - Mother's age when born

Variable Name:
ECD010
SAS Label:
Mother's age when born
English Text:
First I have some questions about {SP NAME's} birth. How old was {SP NAME's} biological mother when {s/he} was born?
English Instructions:
ENTER AGE IN YEARS
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
15 to 44 Range of Values 3037 3037
14 14 years or younger 3 3040
45 45 years or older 6 3046
7777 Refused 3 3049
9999 Don't know 43 3092
. Missing 1 3093

ECQ020 - Mother smoked when pregnant

Variable Name:
ECQ020
SAS Label:
Mother smoked when pregnant
English Text:
Did {SP NAME's} biological mother smoke at any time while she was pregnant with {him/her}?
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 398 398
2 No 2661 3059
7 Refused 0 3059
9 Don't know 33 3092
. Missing 1 3093

ECD070A - Weight at birth, pounds

Variable Name:
ECD070A
SAS Label:
Weight at birth, pounds
English Text:
How much did {SP NAME} weigh at birth?
English Instructions:
IF ANSWER GIVEN IN POUNDS ONLY, PROBE FOR OUNCES. IF ANSWER GIVEN IN EXACT POUNDS, ENTER NUMBER OF POUNDS AND 0 OUNCES. ENTER NUMBER OF POUNDS.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
4 to 10 Range of Values 2926 2926
3 3 pounds or less 66 2992
11 11 pounds or more 15 3007
7777 Refused 0 3007
9999 Don't know 85 3092
. Missing 1 3093

ECD070B - Weight at birth, ounces

Variable Name:
ECD070B
SAS Label:
Weight at birth, ounces
English Text:
How much did {SP NAME} weigh at birth?
English Instructions:
ENTER NUMBER OF OUNCES
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Hard Edits:
0 to 15
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
0 to 15 Range of Values 3007 3007
7777 Refused 0 3007
9999 Don't know 85 3092
. Missing 1 3093

ECQ075 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
ECQ075
English Instructions:
BOX 1. CHECK ITEM: IF REFUSED (CODE 7777) OR DON'T KNOW (CODE 9999) TO ECD070A, CONTINUE; OTHERWISE, GO TO ECQ095 (BOX 2).
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS

ECQ080 - Weight more/less than 5.5 lbs

Variable Name:
ECQ080
SAS Label:
Weight more/less than 5.5 lbs
English Text:
Did {SP NAME} weigh . . .
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 More than 5-1/2 lbs. (2500 g), or 53 53
2 Less than 5-1/2 lbs. (2500 g)? 13 66 ECQ095
7 Refused 0 66 ECQ095
9 Don't know 19 85 ECQ095
. Missing 3008 3093

ECQ090 - Weight more/less than 9.0 lbs

Variable Name:
ECQ090
SAS Label:
Weight more/less than 9.0 lbs
English Text:
Did {SP NAME} weigh . . .
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 More than 9 lbs. (4100 g), or 7 7
2 Less than 9 lbs. (4100 g)? 43 50
7 Refused 0 50
9 Don't know 3 53
. Missing 3040 3093

ECQ095 - CHECK ITEM

Variable Name:
ECQ095
English Instructions:
BOX 2. CHECK ITEM ECQ095: IF SP AGE = 2-15 YEARS CONTINUE; OTHERWISE, GO TO END OF SECTION.
Target:
Both males and females 0 YEARS - 15 YEARS

WHQ030E - How do you consider your child's weight

Variable Name:
WHQ030E
SAS Label:
How do you consider your child's weight
English Text:
How do you consider {SP} weight?
Target:
Both males and females 2 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Overweight 318 318
2 Underweight 181 499
3 About the right weight 1998 2497
7 Refused 0 2497
9 Don't know 4 2501
. Missing 592 3093

MCQ080E - Your child was overweight

Variable Name:
MCQ080E
SAS Label:
Your child was overweight
English Text:
Has a doctor or health professional ever told you that {SP} was overweight?
Target:
Both males and females 2 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 331 331
2 No 2170 2501 End of Section
7 Refused 0 2501 End of Section
9 Don't know 0 2501 End of Section
. Missing 592 3093

ECQ150 - Help your child control weight

Variable Name:
ECQ150
SAS Label:
Help your child control weight
English Text:
Are you now doing anything to help {SP} control {his/her} weight?
Target:
Both males and females 2 YEARS - 15 YEARS
Code or Value Value Description Count Cumulative Skip to Item
1 Yes 262 262
2 No 69 331
7 Refused 0 331
9 Don't know 0 331
. Missing 2762 3093