7/30/2019 NHANES Factsheet

1/2

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey

About NCHSThe CDCs National Center for Health Statistics(NCHS) is the nations principal health statisticsagency, providing data to identify and addresshealth issues. NCHS compiles statisticalinformation to help guide public health and healthpolicy decisions.

Collaborating with other public and private healthpartners, NCHS employs a variety of data collectionmechanisms to obtain accurate information frommultiple sources. This process provides a broadperspective to help us understand the populationshealth, influences on health, and health outcomes.

National Health and NutritionExamination Survey (NHANES)The NHANES is NCHS most in-depth andlogistically complex survey, designed to assess thehealth and nutritional status of Americans. Thiscomprehensive survey combines personalinterviews with standardized physical examinations,diagnostic procedures, and lab tests onapproximately 5,000 persons each year.

Diseases, medical conditions, healthindicators studied:

Obesity Hearing lossOral health DiabetesPhysical activity Sexual behaviorNutrition Kidney disease

Cardiovascular diseaseCognitive functioningEnvironmental exposuresInfectious diseasesReproductive historyRespiratory healthSexually transmitted diseasesSupplements and medications

Why is NHANES unique? Annually, NHANES examines a nationally

representative sample of 5,000 individuals of all ages. To produce reliable statistics,NHANES oversamples African Americans,Asian Americans, Hispanics, and persons overage 60.

Inclusion of an examination component allowsthe survey to provide an objective assessmentof the prevalence of both diagnosed andundiagnosed medical conditions in the U.S.

The physical exams are conducted in MobileExamination Centers that travel to 15 U.S.sites annually, allowing trained specialists towork in quality controlled settings.

Findings from this survey are used todetermine the prevalence of major diseasesand risk factors for diseases.

The data produce national references for suchmeasurements as height, weight, and bloodpressure.

NHANES serves as the data collectionmechanism for a joint Health and HumanServices/U.S. Department of Agricultureeffort to monitor the diet and nutritional statusof Americans, providing information neededfor food policy and dietary guidelines.

The data can be linked to Medicare andNational Death Index records to permit studiesof disease outcomes.

Methods of data collection: Home-based interviews Mobile Examination Centers

o Physical examso Standardized dental examso Physiological measurementso Laboratory tests on blood and urine

7/30/2019 NHANES Factsheet

2/2

Examples of NHANES Data

Obesity More than one-third of U.S. adults were obese

in 2009-2010. This includes 35.5 percent of men and 35.8 percent of women.

There was no change in the prevalence of obesity among adults from 2007-2008 to2009-2010.

Prevalence of obesity among men ranged from36.2 percent among non-Hispanic whites to38.8 percent among non-Hispanic blacks.

Prevalence of obesity among women rangedfrom 32.2 percent among non-Hispanic whitesto 58.5 percent among non-Hispanic blacks

2NOTE: Obesity defined as BMI 30 kg/m .

Source : National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2009-2010.

Cholesterol From 1999-2000 to 2009-2010, the prevalence

of high total cholesterol (>=240 mg/dL) of adults 20 years and older declined from 18.3 to13.4 percent. A decrease was also observed inboth men (17.2 percent during 1999-2000compared to 12.2 percent during 2009-2010)and women (19.1 percent during 1999-2000compared to 14.3 percent during 2009-2010).

The Healthy People 2010 objective to reducethe proportion of adults age 20 and older withhigh cholesterol (240 mg/dL) to 17 percent hasbeen achieved for both men and women.

A serum total cholesterol level greater than or equal to 240 mg/dL*Significant decreasing trend (p