• Component Description
• Eligible Sample
• Interview Setting and Mode of Administration
• Quality Assurance & Quality Control
• Data Processing and Editing
• Analytic Notes
• Codebook
  • SEQN - Respondent sequence number
  • ECD010 - Mother's age when born
  • ECQ020 - Mother smoked when pregnant
  • ECD070A - Weight at birth, pounds
  • ECD070B - Weight at birth, ounces
  • ECQ075 - CHECK ITEM
  • ECQ080 - Weight more/less than 5.5 lbs
  • ECQ090 - Weight more/less than 9.0 lbs
  • ECQ095 - CHECK ITEM
  • WHQ030E - How do you consider your child's weight
  • MCQ080E - Your child was overweight
  • ECQ150 - Help your child control weight

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

2017-2018 Data Documentation, Codebook, and Frequencies

Early Childhood (ECQ_J)

Data File: ECQ_J.xpt

First Published: February 2020

Last Revised: NA

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