The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. An ongoing annual survey combines interviews and physical examinations. The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests administered by highly trained medical personnel.

Ancillary studies include the NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS) and NHANES Epidemiologic Followup Study (NHEFS). NNYFS was conducted in 2012 to evaluate the physical activity and fitness of children aged 3 to 15 years old through interviews and fitness tests. NHEFS is a longitudinal survey of adults aged 25 to 74 years old in the NHANES I (1971-1975) cohort who completed a medical examination. Data was collected in follow-up rounds in 1982-1984, 1986, 1987, and 1992 through subject and proxy interviews and vital record search. Available data files include vital and tracing status, demographic information, interview data on health status, health care facility inpatient data, and mortality data.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews with standardized physical examinations and laboratory tests.
NHANES was conducted on a periodic basis from 1971 to 1994, including NHANES I (1971-1975), NHANES II (1976-1980), NHANES III (1988-1994), and a Hispanic Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (HHANES, 1982-1984). In 1999, NHANES became continuous and has been collecting data annually ever since.
All of the NHANES programs utilized a stratified, multistage probability cluster design to provide a nationally representative sample of the U.S. civilian, noninstitutionalized population. The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component conducted in a mobile examination center consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as the collection of biospecimens, such as blood and urine for laboratory testing.

This set of restricted data contains indirect identifying and/or sensitive information collected in NHANES prior to 1999. Please refer to the links below for additional data available from NHANES:

• NHANES Public Use Data at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/Default.aspx
• NHANES Restricted Data: 1999 - present at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/National-Health-and-Nutrition-Examination-Survey-N/9ixb-fwvy
• NHANES Genetic Restricted Data at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/National-Health-and-Nutrition-Examination-Survey-N/hdx4-e4uu
• NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS) Restricted Data at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/3-NHANES-National-Youth-Fitness-Survey-NNYFS-Restr/5u84-m4rs

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The survey is unique in that it combines interviews with standardized physical examinations and laboratory tests.
NHANES was conducted on a periodic basis from 1971 to 1994. In 1999 NHANES became continuous. Every year, approximately 5,000 people of all ages are interviewed in their homes and complete the health examination conducted in a mobile examination center.
The NHANES interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as the collection of biospecimens, such as blood and urine for laboratory testing.

This set of restricted data contains indirect identifying and/or sensitive information collected in continuous NHANES since 1999. Please refer to the links below for additional data available from NHANES:

• NHANES Public Use Data at: https://wwwn.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/Default.aspx
• NHANES Genetic Restricted Data at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/National-Health-and-Nutrition-Examination-Survey-N/hdx4-e4uu
• NHANES Restricted Data: Prior to 1999 at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/National-Health-and-Nutrition-Examination-Survey-N/ic32-yq9m
• NHANES National Youth Fitness Survey (NNYFS) Restricted Data at: https://data.cdc.gov/dataset/3-NHANES-National-Youth-Fitness-Survey-NNYFS-Restr/5u84-m4rs

analyze the national health and nutrition examination survey (nhanes) with r nhanes is this fascinating survey where doctors and dentists accompany survey interviewers in a little mobile medical center that drives around the country. while the survey folks are interviewing people, the medical professionals administer laboratory tests and conduct a real doctor's examination. the b lood work and medical exam allow researchers like you and me to answer tough questions like, "how many people have diabetes but don't know they have diabetes?" conducting the lab tests and the physical isn't cheap, so a new nhanes data set becomes available once every two years and only includes about twelve thousand respondents. since the number of respondents is so small, analysts often pool multiple years of data together. the replication scripts below give a few different examples of how multiple years of data can be pooled with r. the survey gets conducted by the centers for disease control and prevention (cdc), and generalizes to the united states non-institutional, non-active duty military population. most of the data tables produced by the cdc include only a small number of variables, so importation with the foreign package's read.xport function is pretty straightforward. but that makes merging the appropriate data sets trickier, since it might not be clear what to pull for which variables. for every analysis, start with the table with 'demo' in the name -- this file includes basic demographics, weighting, and complex sample survey design variables. since it's quick to download the files directly from the cdc's ftp site, there's no massive ftp download automation script. this new github repository co ntains five scripts: 2009-2010 interview only - download and analyze.R download, import, save the demographics and health insurance files onto your local computer load both files, limit them to the variables needed for the analysis, merge them together perform a few example variable recodes create the complex sample survey object, using the interview weights run a series of pretty generic analyses on the health insurance ques tions 2009-2010 interview plus laboratory - download and analyze.R download, import, save the demographics and cholesterol files onto your local computer load both files, limit them to the variables needed for the analysis, merge them together perform a few example variable recodes create the complex sample survey object, using the mobile examination component (mec) weights perform a direct-method age-adjustment and matc h figure 1 of this cdc cholesterol brief replicate 2005-2008 pooled cdc oral examination figure.R download, import, save, pool, recode, create a survey object, run some basic analyses replicate figure 3 from this cdc oral health databrief - the whole barplot replicate cdc publications.R download, import, save, pool, merge, and recode the demographics file plus cholesterol laboratory, blood pressure questionnaire, and blood pressure laboratory files match the cdc's example sas and sudaan syntax file's output for descriptive means match the cdc's example sas and sudaan synta x file's output for descriptive proportions match the cdc's example sas and sudaan syntax file's output for descriptive percentiles replicate human exposure to chemicals report.R (user-contributed) download, import, save, pool, merge, and recode the demographics file plus urinary bisphenol a (bpa) laboratory files log-transform some of the columns to calculate the geometric means and quantiles match the 2007-2008 statistics shown on pdf page 21 of the cdc's fourth edition of the report click here to view these five scripts for more detail about the national health and nutrition examination survey (nhanes), visit: the cdc's nhanes homepage the national cancer institute's page of nhanes web tutorials notes: nhanes includes interview-only weights and interview + mobile examination component (mec) weights. if you o nly use questions from the basic interview in your analysis, use the interview-only weights (the sample size is a bit larger). i haven't really figured out a use for the interview-only weights -- nhanes draws most of its power from the combination of the interview and the mobile examination component variables. if you're only using variables from the interview, see if you can use a data set with a larger sample size like the current population (cps), national health interview survey (nhis), or medical expenditure panel survey (meps) instead. confidential to sas, spss, stata, sudaan users: why are you still riding around on a donkey after we've invented the internal combustion engine? time to transition to r. :D

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) is a program of studies designed to assess the health and nutritional status of adults and children in the United States. The NHANES combines personal interviews and physical examinations, which focus on different population groups or health topics. These surveys have been conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) on a periodic basis from 1971 to 1994. In 1999 the NHANES became a continuous program with a changing focus on a variety of health and nutrition measurements which were designed to meet current and emerging concerns. The surveys examine a nationally representative sample of approximately 5,000 persons each year. These persons are located in counties across the United States, 15 of which are visited each year. The 1999-2000 NHANES contains data for 9,965 individuals (and MEC examined sample size of 9,282) of all ages. Many questions that were asked in NHANES II, 1976-1980, Hispanic HANES 1982-1984, and NHANES III, 1988-1994, were combined with new questions in the NHANES 1999-2000. The 1999-2000 NHANES collected data on the prevalence of selected chronic conditions and diseases in the population and estimates for previously undiagnosed conditions, as well as those known to and reported by respondents. Risk factors, those aspects of a person's lifestyle, constitution, heredity, or environment that may increase the chances of developing a certain disease or condition, were examined. Data on smoking, alcohol consumption, sexual practices, drug use, physical fitness and activity, weight, and dietary intake were collected. Information on certain aspects of reproductive health, such as use of oral contraceptives and breastfeeding practices, were also collected. The interview includes demographic, socioeconomic, dietary, and health-related questions. The examination component consists of medical, dental, and physiological measurements, as well as laboratory tests. Demographic data file variables are grouped into three broad categories: (1) Status Variables: Provide core information on the survey participant. Examples of the core variables include interview status, examination status, and sequence number. (Sequence number is a unique ID assigned to each sample person and is required to match the information on this demographic file to the rest of the NHANES 1999-2000 data). (2) Recoded Demographic Variables: The variables include age (age in months for persons through age 19 years, 11 months; age in years for 1-84 year olds, and a top-coded age group of 85+ years), gender, a race/ethnicity variable, an education variable (high school, and more than high school education), country of birth (United States, Mexico, or other foreign born), and pregnancy status variable. Some of the groupings were made due to limited sample sizes for the two-year dataset. (3) Interview and Examination Sample Weight Variables: Sample weights are available for analyzing NHANES 1999-2000 data. For a complete listing of survey contents for all years of the NHANES see the document -- Survey Content -- NHANES 1999-2010.

At a glance - NHANES is the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. - NHANES is a national survey that measures the health and nutrition of adults and children in the United States. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) collects data about the health of adults and children in the United States. We also collect data about what participants eat, drink, and take as supplements to determine how many nutrients are in their diet. These dietary interviews and blood tests help us measure the nutritional status of U.S. adults and children. CDC's National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) conducts NHANES. NHANES is the only national health survey that includes health exams, laboratory tests, and dietary interviews for participants of all ages. NHANES data can help improve the health of Americans. Survey data have driven changes in how doctors treat patients and how public policy supports good health. The NHANES program began in the early 1960s. It started as a series of surveys that focused on different population groups and health topics. Since 1999, NCHS has conducted NHANES without interruption—what we call continuous NHANES. Now, NHANES can focus on different health and nutrition measurements to meet changing information needs. Each year, about 5,000 adults and children in communities across the United States participate in NHANES. We use a random, scientific process to select the people we invite to participate. This process ensures that this group of people can accurately represent the health and nutritional status of everyone in our diverse nation. To collect data about a wide range of health and nutrition topics, NHANES includes— - Interviews about health, diet, and personal, social, and economic characteristics - Visits to our mobile exam center for dental exams and health and body measurements - Laboratory tests by highly trained medical professionals (Text above quoted from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/nhanes/about/ on 2025-03-23)

The Health and Nutrition Examination Survey II, 1976-1980: Medical History ages 6 months-11 years contains demographic characteristics and health histories of 6,839 interviewed persons 6 months-11 years of age. The medical histories obtained include items on birth weight, birth order, sitting and walking stages, infant feeding, congenital conditions, accidental poisoning, bad accidents, hospitalizations, activity limitation, pneumonia, colds, diarrhea, pica, vision problems, chronic conditions checklists, allergies, lead poisoning, medications, kidney, bladder, and urinary tract conditions, anemia, hearing and speech, lung and chest conditions, school meal programs, and parents' height and weight.

This data represents the age-adjusted prevalence of high total cholesterol, hypertension, and obesity among US adults aged 20 and over between 1999-2000 to 2017-2018. Notes: All estimates are age adjusted by the direct method to the U.S. Census 2000 population using age groups 20–39, 40–59, and 60 and over. Definitions Hypertension: Systolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 130 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 80 mmHg, or currently taking medication to lower high blood pressure High total cholesterol: Serum total cholesterol greater than or equal to 240 mg/dL. Obesity: Body mass index (BMI, weight in kilograms divided by height in meters squared) greater than or equal to 30. Data Source and Methods Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) for the years 1999–2000, 2001–2002, 2003–2004, 2005–2006, 2007–2008, 2009–2010, 2011–2012, 2013–2014, 2015–2016, and 2017–2018 were used for these analyses. NHANES is a cross-sectional survey designed to monitor the health and nutritional status of the civilian noninstitutionalized U.S. population. The survey consists of interviews conducted in participants’ homes and standardized physical examinations, including a blood draw, conducted in mobile examination centers.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is a population survey implemented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to monitor the health of the United States whose data is publicly available in hundreds of files. This Data Descriptor describes a single unified and universally accessible data file, merging across 255 separate files and stitching data across 4 surveys, encompassing 41,474 individuals and 1,191 variables. The variables consist of phenotype and environmental exposure information on each individual, specifically (1) demographic information, physical exam results (e.g., height, body mass index), laboratory results (e.g., cholesterol, glucose, and environmental exposures), and (4) questionnaire items. Second, the data descriptor describes a dictionary to enable analysts find variables by category and human-readable description. The datasets are available on DataDryad and a hands-on analytics tutorial is available on GitHub. Through a new big data platform, BD2K Patient Centered Information Commons (http://pic-sure.org), we provide a new way to browse the dataset via a web browser (https://nhanes.hms.harvard.edu) and provide application programming interface for programmatic access.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Followup Study (NHEFS) is a longitudinal study that follows participants from the NHANES I who were aged 25-74 in 1971-1975. The NHEFS surveys were designed to investigate the association between factors measured at the baseline and the development of specific health conditions and functional limitations. Follow-up data were collected in 1982-1984 (ICPSR 8900), 1986 (ICPSR 9466), 1987 (ICPSR 9854), and 1992. The 1992 NHEFS collected information on changes in the health and functional status of the NHEFS cohort since the last contact period. The Vital and Tracing Status file (Part 1) provides summary information about the status of the NHEFS cohort. The Interview Data file (Part 2) covers selected aspects of the respondent's health history, including injuries, activities of daily living, vision and hearing, medical conditions, exercise, weight, family history of cancer, surgeries, smoking, alcohol use, and medical care utilization. The Health Care Facility Stay files (Parts 3 and 4) supply information about stays in hospitals, nursing homes, and mental health care facilities, as well as information abstracted from facility medical records. The Mortality Data file (Part 5) contains data abstracted from the death certificates for NHEFS decedents.

Abstract (en): Information for all examined sampled persons in each of these National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES I) was obtained by means of a household interview, a general medical history, a 24-hour dietary intake recall interview, a food frequency interview, a food program questionnaire, a general medical examination, dental, dermatological and ophthalmological examinations, anthropometric measurement, hand-wrist x-rays (of persons ages 1-17 only) and 24 hematological, blood chemistry, and urological laboratory determinations. In addition to this information, some respondents were given more specific tests such as x-rays of the chest and hip and knee joints, audiometry, electrocariography, goniometry, spirometry, pulmonary diffusion and tuberculin tests, and additional laboratory determinations. This data set contains demographic characteristics for 6913 examinees ages 25-74 who had received the detailed examination during NHANES I. Additional information includes their lung and heart size measurements, three expert x-ray readings for lung and heart pathology, pulmonary diffusion measurements, and tuberculin test results. The civilian noninstitutionalized population, ages 1-74, of the United States at the midpoint of the survey (November 1, 1972). NHANES I is a multistage stratified probability sample of clusters of persons in landbased segments. The subsample of 6913 adults to receive this detailed health examination was chosen systematically from the nutrition sample after a random start. An age-specific sampling rate was used.

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey I Epidemiologic Followup Study (NHEFS) originated as a joint project between the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA). The design of NHEFS, which contains follow-up data on the NHANES I cohort, consisted of five steps. The first step focused on tracing and locating all subjects in the cohort or their proxies and determining their vital status. The second step involved the obtaining of death certificates for subjects who were deceased. Interviews with the participants or their proxies constituted the third phase of the follow-up. The fourth phase of the follow-up included measurements of pulse, blood pressure, and weight for interviewed respondents, and the fifth step was the acquisition of relevant hospital and nursing home records, including pathology reports and electrocardiograms. The respondent interview was designed to gather information on selected aspects of the subject's health history since the time of the NHANES I exam. This information included a history of the occurrence or recurrence of selected medical conditions, an assessment of behavioral, social, nutritional, and medical risk factors believed to be associated with these conditions, and an assessment of various aspects of functional status. Whenever possible, the questionnaire was designed to retain item comparability between NHANES I and NHEFS in order to measure change over time. However, questionnaire items were modified, added, or deleted when necessary to take advantage of recent improvements in questionnaire methodology. The Vital and Tracing Status file is a master file containing tracing, vital status, and demographic data for all NHEFS respondents. In addition, it provides users with information on the availability of different survey components for each respondent. For example, variables have been created to indicate whether a death certificate was received for a deceased subject, hospital records were received, or a follow-up interview was completed. The Health Care Facility Record file offers data on respondents who had reported an overnight stay in a health care facility after 1970. Information on the name and address of the facility, the date of the stay, and the reason for the stay was recorded. The Mortality Data file contains death certificate information for 1,935 NHEFS decedents. The death certificate information is for deaths occurring from 1971 to 1983.