National Data Sets Useful in Child Nutrition Research
ERS encourages research that makes appropriate use of existing, nationally representative data. Examples of relevant surveys include:
The following provides brief descriptions of the data. For more information, see the associated web links.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort (ECLS-B)
The ECLS-B is an ongoing nationally representative sample of about 12,000 children born during the year 2001 who will be followed through the first grade. The study focuses on factors affecting readiness for school, and information will be collected each year from parents, teachers, birth records, and the children themselves. Study participants come from diverse socioeconomic and racial/ethnic backgrounds, with oversamples of children who are Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian, or Chinese; twins; and children with low and very low birthweights. Information about these children is collected when the they are about 9 months old, 2 years old, 4 years old, and in kindergarten and first grade. Data items funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture relate to participation in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), as well as other USDA food assistance programs; infant feeding practices; children's household food security; and children's height and weight. The ECLS-B offers the opportunity to examine the relationship between children's participation in WIC and their cognitive performance and school progress and many other issues. For example, data from the ECLS-B may shed light on the relationship between infant feeding practices and childhood obesity. For more information, see the National Center for Educational Statistics' ECLS website.
Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K)
The ECLS-K is an ongoing longitudinal study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. The study follows a nationally representative sample of approximately 22,000 children from kindergarten through eighth grade. The children's parents, teachers, and schools are also participants in the study. The ECLS-K collects information on the children's cognitive, social, emotional, and physical development (i.e., height and weight); home environment and home educational practices; school environment, classroom environment, and classroom curriculum; participation in the National School Lunch Program, School Breakfast Program, and Food Stamp Program; and household food security status. Information is collected in the fall and spring of kindergarten (1998-99), the fall and spring of first grade (1999-2000), the spring of third grade (2002), fifth grade (2004), and eighth grade (2007). For more information, see the National Center for Educational Statistics' ECLS website.
Food and Nutrition Service Program Operations Data
The Food and Nutrition Service Program Operations Data provide statistical information on aspects of all major Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) food and nutrition assistance programs. These programs include the Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Child Nutrition Programs (National School Lunch, School Breakfast, Child and Adult Care, Summer Food Service, and Special Milk); and Food Distribution Programs (Schools, Emergency Food Assistance, Indian Reservations, Commodity Supplemental, Nutrition for the Elderly, and Charitable Institutions). Four types of tables are provided: historical summaries, annual State-level data for selected elements, monthly national-level data for major programs, and State-level participation in major programs for the latest available month. The summaries begin with 1969, the year that FNS was established to administer USDA's food and nutrition assistance programs. FNS Program Operations Data are available on the Food and Nutrition Service website.
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES)
NHANES is an ongoing survey conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The survey assesses the health and nutritional status of the population and monitors changes over time, especially in comparison with information from NHANES I, II, and III, which were conducted in earlier periods. A major objective of the survey's nutrition component is to provide data for nutrition monitoring purposes, including tracking nutrition, identifying risk factors related to food insecurity, and estimating the prevalence of compromised nutritional status. A second major objective is to provide information for studying the relationships among diet, nutritional status, and health. A dietary 24-hour recall is used to obtain dietary data. The data set variables include gender, age, race, ethnicity, income, education, employment, health insurance coverage, marital status, and food assistance program participation. Outcome variables of interest include numerous nutritional and health indicators, such as food and nutrient intake, dietary practices, body measurements, hematological tests, including iron status, biochemical analyses of whole blood and serum (including lipid, lipoproteins, lead, and glucose tolerance), blood pressure, electrocardiograms, urine tests, bone densitometry, dental examinations, gallbladder ultrasonography, and cognitive and physical functioning. For more information, see the NHANES website of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
National Survey of America's Families (NSAF)
The NSAF, conducted by The Urban Institute, provides a comprehensive look at the well-being of adults and children. The survey provides quantitative quality-of-life measures and pays particular attention to low-income families. The survey is representative of the noninstitutionalized, civilian population under age 65 in the Nation as a whole and in 13 States: Alabama, California, Colorado, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Texas, Washington, and Wisconsin. Together, these 13 States are home to more than half the Nation's population and represent a broad range of fiscal capacities, child well-being, and approaches to government programs. For more information, see the Urban Institute's NSAF website.
Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID)—Child Development Supplement (CDS)
The PSID, begun in 1968, is a longitudinal study of a representative sample of U.S. individuals and their families, including an oversampling of the low-income population. As families have grown and changed over time, the sample size has grown from 4,800 families in 1968 to 6,434 in 1999. A sample of 441 immigrant families was added in 1997. The PSID has collected information about more than 60,000 individuals spanning as much as 30 years of their lives. The central focus of the data is economic and demographic variables useful for research on dynamic processes. It contains substantial detail on income sources and amounts, employment, family composition changes, and residential location. Some years of the study include in-depth data collection on the children of PSID parents; this section of the survey is known as the Child Development Supplement (CDS). The study is conducted at the Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan and has been supported over the years by funding from various government agencies, foundations, and other organizations. For more information, see the University of Michigan's PSID website.
School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS)
The School Health Policies and Programs Study (SHPPS) is a national survey conducted periodically to assess school health policies and programs at the State, district, school, and classroom levels in elementary, middle/junior, and senior high schools. SHPPS is designed to answer the following three questions:
- what are the characteristics of eight school health program components (health education, physical education and activity, health services, mental health and social services, food service, school policy and environment, faculty and staff health promotion, and family and community involvement) at the State, district, school, and classroom levels nationwide?
- who is responsible for coordinating and delivering each component of the school health program and what kind of education and training have they received? and
- what collaboration occurs among staff from each school health program component and with staff from State and local agencies and organizations? State-, district-, and school-level questionnaires were designed to collect information on State, district, and school policies and programs specific to each school health program component, with an emphasis on policy. Classroom-level questionnaires were designed to describe required instruction and techniques used in teaching health topics and physical education. The public-use data set for SHPPS 2006 is available from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. For more information, see School Health Policies and Programs Study.
School Nutrition Dietary Assessment Study-III (SNDA-III)
SNDA-III data were collected from a nationally representative
sample of districts, schools, and students in school year
(SY) 2004-05. Information is included on USDA school meal
programs, the school environment affecting programs, nutrient
content of school meals, and contributions of school meals
to students' diets. Public-use SNDA-III data files are
available from the Office of Research and Analysis, Food
and Nutrition Service, USDA, 3101 Park Center Drive, Alexandria,
Va 22302 or 703.305.2017.
Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)
The main objectives of the SIPP are to collect information on income by source, employment, program participation and eligibility, and general demographic characteristics. This information is used to measure the effectiveness of existing Federal and State programs; to estimate future costs and coverage for government programs, such as food stamps; and to improve statistics on the U.S. distribution of income in the country. The U.S. Census Bureau, which conducts the SIPP, uses a longitudinal, multistage-stratified design to survey the civilian, noninstitutionalized population of the United States. The sample size ranges from approximately 14,000 to 36,700 interviewed households, with the duration of each panel ranging from 2½ to 4 years. Variables include labor force behavior; income; participation in public programs; basic demographic characteristics; living arrangements; food adequacy or abbreviated food security module; participation at the individual level in the Food Stamp Program and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); and participation at the household level in the free, reduced-price, and full-price categories of the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. For more information, see the Census Bureau's SIPP website.
Survey of Program Dynamics (SPD)
The SPD is a special extension of the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) designed to look specifically at the effects of welfare reform. Congress mandated that the U.S. Census Bureau continue to collect data on the 1992 and 1993 panels of SIPP, as necessary, to obtain information on changes in participation in public assistance programs, employment, earnings, and measures of adult and child well-being. The data collected from the 1992 and 1993 SIPP panels provide 3 years of longitudinal baseline data prior to major welfare reform. The SPD's data include information on program eligibility, access, and participation; transfer income and in-kind benefits; food security; and detailed economic and demographic data on employment and job transitions, income, and family composition. The 3 years of SIPP data combined with the 7 years of SPD data will provide panel data for 10 years. For more information, see the Census Bureau's SPD website.
Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS)
The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), provides data representative of high school students in public and private schools in the United States. Relevant information includes data on weight status, food consumption habits, and physical activity. For more information, see CDC's “Healthy Youth!”
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