Description

For sample adults age 18+ who have at least one functional activity limitation (FLANY), and for whom a weight problem was reported as a condition causing any functional activity limitation (FLWEIGHT), FLWEIGHTMO reports the duration, in months, of the weight problem.

Data on the duration of limiting weight problem were collected via the question, "How long have you had [a weight problem]?" Respondents could answer this open-ended question using the time unit of their choice (i.e., days, weeks, months, years, or since birth). The original responses to the question are reported in two complementary variables, FLWEIGHTTP (which specifies the time unit) and FLWEIGHTNO (which reports the number of such units). For the NHIS public use files, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) recoded the results from these two variables to create two other variables using standard time units: years (FLWEIGHTY) and groups of months (FLWEIGHTMO).

Comparability

Apart from a change in the coding of "unknown" cases, this variable is comparable across years.

All "unknown" cases for this variable share a common first digit of "9." The meaning of the second digit following the 9 differs for 2001 versus 2002 forward.

Analysts can achieve comparability across all years by combining codes with a common first digit of 9 into a single "unknown" category.

Universe

Availability

• 1997-2018

Weights

• 1997-2018 : SAMPWEIGHT