“Mean Body Weight, Height, and Body Mass Index, United States 1960-2002" is available from The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Children in the United States today are, on average, taller and weigh more than children did in the 1960s, according to a report.
Produced by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a program under the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the report measured body mass index, weight, and height for children ages 2-19 between 1960 and 2002. Over that time period, for instance, the average weight of 6-year-old boys increased from 48.4 pounds in 1963-65 to 51.7 pounds in 1999-2002, and for 47.4 pounds to 49.2 pounds for 6-year-old girls during that time. There was also a slight height increase for both boys and girls between 1963-65 and 1999-2002.
