Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Nhanes III)

Report Information

The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), 1988-94, was conducted on a nationwide probability sample of approximately 33,994 persons 2 months and over. The survey was designed to obtain nationally representative information on the health and nutritional status of the population of the United States through interviews and direct physical examinations. Physical examinations and objective measures are employed because the information collected cannot be furnished or is not available in a standardized manner through interviews with the people themselves or through records maintained by the health professionals who provide their medical care.

Some of the 30 topics investigated in the NHANES III were: high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, obesity, passive smoking, lung disease, osteoporosis, HIV, hepatitis, helicobacter pylori, immunization status, diabetes, allergies, growth and development, blood lead, anemia, food sufficiency, dietary intake-including fats, antioxidants, and nutritional blood measures.

The NHANES III consists of five separate files: Adult Household Data, Youth Household Data, Examination Data, Laboratory Data, and Dietary Recall Data. These data files are from the full 6 years of the NHANES III, 1988-94, and contains nearly all the data collected in the survey.

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