| Detailed Objective: This project improves estimates of low-income households' food consumption in
the United States by increasing the sample size of low-income individuals in the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals
(CSFII). It developed and modified survey questions that measure food consumption
by low-income individuals in the United States.
The CSFII has been conducted three times: 1985-86 (2 years); 1989-91 (3 years);
and 1994-96 (3 years). The survey design is a multistage, stratified area probability
sample. The 1994-96 CSFII is popularly known as "What We Eat in America." The
survey has targeted different populations in different years. The earlier survey
included two separate samples: households at all incomes and households with
incomes at or below 130 percent of the poverty thresholds. Detailed data are
reported on the kinds and amounts of foods eaten at home and away, and estimates
of food-based nutrients ingested by individuals are derived from data developed
by the Nutrient Data Laboratory, Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Funding
supports a 50 percent increase in the low-income sample of the 1999-2002 CSFII.
The sample of low-income household respondents is raised from 4,140 to 6,120.
The enhanced low-income sample will provide timely information on low-income
diets and diets of other population groups of concern and indicate changes in
diets from previous surveys. The Economic Research Service contributed $1,250,000
in fiscal 1998 in support of this project. |
