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Nutrition survey

Here you will find a summary of surveys conducted to understand the public health and nutritional status in foreign countries and the energy and main nutrient intake data in each country.

Content of surveys

Displayed in alphabetical order

United States

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is conducted annually to evaluate the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the US by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), which is a part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This survey uses big vehicles called Mobile Examination Centers (MECs), which are equipped with facilities for physical exam and other components of evaluation and reach across the country to obtain data on the health and nutritional status of the American population as well as other information including demographic and socioeconomic status through interviews.

United Kingdom

The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) is conducted jointly by three organizations: the NatCen Social Research (NatCen), MRC Human Nutrition Research (HNR), and the University College London Medical School (UCL) to collect information on the dietary habits and nutritional status of the population. The results are applied in the country’s policymaking as well as in monitoring the nutritional status of the population.

Australia

The National Health Survey is conducted jointly by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABC) and the Department of Health to understand the nutritional status of the population. In 2011, the Australian Health Survey was conducted. It is the most comprehensive and extensive health survey in the country.

Canada

Dietary survey is conducted as a part of Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHC). In 2004 and 2015, dietary assessment was conducted using 24-hour recall. The CCHC is conducted jointly by Health Canada, Public Health Agency of Canada, Statistics Canada, and Canadian Institute for Health Information.

Korea

The Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES) is conducted annually to investigate the health–risk factors affecting Korean adults and children as well as the morbidity of principal chronic diseases, and to assess the nutritional and health status of the population. In the same way as America’s NHANES, this survey uses mobile examination centers to obtain data on demographic and socioeconomic status through interviews, in addition to the information on health and nutritional status.

Greece

The Hellenic National Nutrition and Health Survey was conducted from 2013-2015 by Agricultural Uiversity of Athens, and included a nationally representative sample.

Sweden

The latest national nutrition surveys are Riksmaten adults 2010-2011, and Riksmaten adolescents 2016-2017 conducted by National Food Agency.

China

The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) is conducted jointly by the Population Center at the University of North Carolina Population Center (CPC) and the National Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety (INFS) of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) to reveal the influence on the country’s nutritional and health status from the economic reform policies introduced since 1979.

Germany

The second German National Nutrition Survey, or Nationale Verzehrsstudie II,(NVS II) was conducted by Max Rubner-Institut (MRI), commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) to assess the food intake and dietary behavior of the German population. The survey used three different survey methods to collect information for disease risk assessment and/or policymaking in Germany and other countries in the European Union.

Finland

National FINDIET Survey is conducted every 5 years to assess the dietary behavior and dietary intake among adults. This survey has been conducted by National Institute for Health and Welfare since 1982.

Brazil

The National Health Survey (Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde: PNS) is conducted jointly by Ministry of Health (Ministério da Saúde) and Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE). The dietary intake is assessed by Food Frequency Questionnaire method. The survey is conducted to monitor the health status, NCDs and related risk factors in the country.

Russia

In Russia, the Russia Longitudinal Monitoring Survey - Higher School of Economics (RLMS-HSE) is a survey designed to investigate the influence on household/personal economics and welfare from the market economy-related reforms accompanied by radical structural reforms in the fields of politics, economy, and society in the 1990s. A total of 23 surveys have been conducted since 1992.

Intake details by item

Last Reviewed: March 27, 2023