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Measurements of weight and height of 21,638 Saudi boys and girls ages six to 16 years from the Eastern Province were taken. It was observed that the occurrence age of children could only be made out in Hegira years, as age is recorded by parents and at schools by the Hegira calendar. Age is a crucial factor in studies such as this and for valid comparison with any international reference standard, the latter must be adapted to the Hegira calendar year. Curves for weight and height percentiles for age have been constructed and compared with the Hegira adaptation of the NCHS growth standard.

The ages of Saudi children are recorded and based on the Hegira calendar. When charted on the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) weight and height charts, children will be at disadvantage since the Hegira year is shorter than the Gregorian year. In this paper, centiles for the NCHS reference population are estimated for age in Hegira years from 2-18 for height and weight for both sexes using mathematical interpolation. Charts are prepared for use in hospitals and health centers for children whose ages have been reported based on the Hegira calendar.