In response to a request of the Human Nutrition Information Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a committee was established under the auspices of the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Research Council's Commission on Life Sciences to review the uses of the Nationwide Food Consumption Surveys (NFCS) and make recommendations to facilitate wider application of the resulting survey data. The Committee also reviewed and made recommendations regarding the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a project of the National Center for Health Statistics of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). This report, to those responsible for the surveys, contains the Committee's findings and recommendations.

Contents

• COORDINATING COMMITTEE ON EVALUATION OF FOOD CONSUMPTION SURVEYS
• FOOD AND NUTRITION BOARD
• ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
• EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
• OVERVIEW AND SUMMARY RECOMMENDATIONS
  • SURVEYS: BACKGROUND
  • IDENTIFICATION OF CURRENT AND POTENTIAL USES AND USER NEEDS
  • COMMITTEE PERSPECTIVE ON DATA USES
  • SUMMARY RECOMMENDATIONS
  • CONTINUING EVALUATIVE PROCESSES
• 1. INTRODUCTION
  • BACKGROUND
  • FOOD AND NUTRITION BOARD RESPONSE
  • INCREASE IN SCOPE OF WORK
  • PLAN OF ACTION
  • SCOPE OF THE REPORT
• 2. THE NATIONWIDE FOOD CONSUMPTION SURVEYS
  • HISTORY
  • PURPOSES
  • DESIGN
  • GENERAL QUALITY ASSURANCE TECHNIQUES
  • SURVEY REPORTING
  • RESEARCH INITIATIVES
  • FUTURE PLANS
  • USES OF DIETARY DATA FROM NFCS SURVEYS
  • SUMMARY
• 3. THE NATIONAL HEALTH AND NUTRITION EXAMINATION SURVEY
  • HISTORY
  • PURPOSES
  • DESIGN
  • DATA COLLECTION METHODS
  • QUALITY ASSURANCE
  • DATA PROCESSING
  • DATA REPORTING
  • RESEARCH INITIATIVES
  • RESEARCH NEEDS
  • FUTURE PLANS
  • USES OF DIETARY DATA FROM NHANES SURVEYS
  • SUMMARY
• 4. IDENTIFICATION OF CURRENT AND POTENTIAL USES OF SURVEY DATA
  • DATA USERS' CONFERENCES
  • GENERAL CONCEPTS RELATED TO DATA USERS AND NEEDS
  • DATA USES: OVERVIEW
  • SUMMARY
• 5. CONJOINT DATA USE: A COORDINATING COMMITTEE PERSPECTIVE
  • BACKGROUND
  • COMMITTEE PERSPECTIVE
  • PURPOSES OF CORE SURVEYS
  • PURPOSES OF A NATIONWIDE MONITORING SYSTEM
  • USES OF A MONITORING SYSTEM
  • DATA NEEDS OF A MONITORING SYSTEM
  • RATIONALE FOR NOT RECOMMENDING A SINGLE DIETARY SURVEY
  • NEEDS OF DATA USERS
  • SUMMARY
• 6. RATIONALE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR EARLY ACTION
  • INTRODUCTION
  • SURVEY PURPOSES AS GUIDES
  • RECOMMENDATIONS ON SURVEY DESIGN
  • RECOMMENDATIONS ON FOOD INTAKE METHODS
  • INFORMATION ON THE COMPOSITION OF FOODS
  • POPULATION INFORMATION
  • GENERAL USER NEEDS
  • SUMMARY
• 7. RATIONALE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LONGER-TERM IMPLEMENTATION
  • SURVEY PURPOSES AS GUIDES
  • FOOD INTAKE METHODS
  • IMPROVEMENTS IN INFORMATION ON COMPOSITION OF FOODS
  • GENERAL USER NEEDS
  • SUMMARY
• REFERENCES
• APPENDIX A: TECHNICAL COMMENTS ON SURVEY PLANNING AND SURVEY DESIGN LIMITATIONS
• APPENDIX B: WORKSHOP AGENDA
• APPENDIX C: SYMPOSIUM BACKGROUND

The study summarized in this report was supported by the United States Department of Agriculture, Human Nutrition Information Service Grant No. 59-3198-2-52, modified by an interagency agreement dated April 18, 1983 to include additional support by the National Center for Health Statistics, Department of Health and Human Services.

NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.

This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of members of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.

The National Research Council was established by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's purposes of furthering knowledge and of advising the federal government. The Council operates in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy under the authority of its congressional charter of 1963, which establishes the Academy as a private, nonprofit, self-governing membership corporation. The Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in the conduct of their services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. It is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. The National Academy of Engineering and the Institute of Medicine were established in 1964 and 1970, respectively, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences.