Table 2.

Mean grip strength and smoothed quartile distribution (pound) in U.S. children by sex and single-year age, 2011–12.^*

Gender	Age	n	Mean	SEM	25th percentile	50th percentile	75th percentile
Males	6	107	46.9	1.1	38.6	44.6	51.5
	7	111	54.9	1.7	42.5	50.2	58.9
	8	114	62.2	1.6	48.6	57.9	67.9
	9	102	71.6	1.5	57.5	67.6	78.1
	10	94	82.6	2.0	66.3	76.6	88.3
	11	86	93.9	2.8	75.9	86.7	100.7
	12	64	104.2	3.6	85.2	97.7	114.4
	13	88	130.5	4.3	96.7	113.2	133.2
	14	82	151.4	5.0	123.5	143.5	165.8
	15	69	166.8	3.8	138.8	159.5	181.9
	16	82	182.2	4.8	153.6	175.0	196.6
	17	67	182.8	2.7	164.5	183.9	203.9
	18	60	194.0	3.4	169.9	186.5	206.0
	19	81	191.0	4.4	170.1	187.4	207.5
Females	6	95	44.1	0.8	34.8	40.7	46.2
	7	95	47.9	1.4	38.9	45.3	51.8
	8	91	58.5	1.5	46.1	52.8	59.8
	9	105	64.7	0.9	54.3	61.3	68.4
	10	83	78.6	2.3	62.7	70.9	79.1
	11	113	90.7	1.5	73.5	83.4	94.1
	12	78	107.7	3.3	84.9	96.2	110.0
	13	84	106.0	3.1	92.6	104.0	117.6
	14	65	117.3	3.6	97.1	108.4	121.2
	15	65	119.1	2.8	102.2	113.	126.6
	16	81	115.9	2.5	106.9	118.5	129.8
	17	70	128.4	4.0	108.4	121.1	133.6
	18	55	121.9	2.6	109.0	123.0	140.3
	19	79	132.9	3.2	114.4	126.3	142.7

^*Values (pound) represent the maximal grip strength achieved for each hand over 3 trials, combined for the left and right hand. Source: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Smoothed quartile estimates are provided rather than quintiles because of sample size. Standard errors cannot be calculated for smoothed quartile estimates.