Component Description
The Diet Behavior and Nutrition (variable name prefix DBQ) section provides
personal interview data on various dietary behavior and nutrition related
topics. Many of the questions were included in NHANES II (1976-80), Hispanic
HANES (1982-84), NHANES III (1988-94), and NHANES 1999-2010. Topics included in
the section are:
- Breastfeeding and other childhood feeding practices (≤ 6 yr)
- Current milk consumption pattern and types of milk (≥ 1 yr)
- Milk consumption pattern throughout the life span (≥ 20 yr)
- Community or government meal program participation (≥ 60 yr)
- School meal program participation (4-19 yr)
- Self-appraised healthfulness level of one’s own diet (≥ 16 yr)
- Frequency of getting meals prepared away from home (≥ 1 yr)
- Frequency of meals got from fast-food or pizza places (≥ 1 yr)
- Use of convenience foods (≥ 1 yr)
- Awareness of MyPyramid program (≥ 16 yr)
Starting 2009, breastfeeding related questions in the DBQ section were
revised based on the 2006 National Immunization Survey (NIS). Please refer to
the documentation accompany the 2009-2010
DBQ section for more detailed information.
The Flexible Consumer Behavior Survey (FCBS) module was first added to the
NHANES in 2007. This module was developed in collaboration with the Economic
Research Service (ERS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). It is
designed to collect information on people’s knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs
toward nutrition and food choices. The original FCBS module has two elements: a
core set of questions asked in the household interview, and a supplementary
module asked as a telephone follow-up interview with focuses specifically
designed for each 2-year data collection cycle. Starting 2011, data collection
for the FCBS supplementary module was discontinued.
The core set of 2011-2012 FCBS module collects information on individual
participant’s food choices, such as getting meals prepared away from home, meals
got from fast-food or pizza places, use of convenience foods or ready-to-eat
meals bought in stores, and awareness of MyPyramid program. These data are
included as part of the present DBQ section.
The core set of 2011-2012 FCBS module also includes questions at
participant’s family level. For example, family monthly income and family
assets, food expenditures, as well as family’s participation on federal food
assistance programs. The family food expenditures data are released in the
Consumer Behavior (CBQ) section, while the monthly income and family assets data
are included in the Income (INQ), and food program participation data are
included in the Food Security (FSQ) sections.
Similar to other datasets in the NHANES 2011-2012 release cycle, all FCBS
related data files can be linked by the respondent sequence number (SEQN). The
complete 2011-2012
FCBS questionnaire is available at the NHANES website. For more information
on the other FCBS related data, refer to the documentations accompanying the
datasets.
Eligible Sample
The target age groups for questions in this section vary by the topic. For
example, the questions pertaining to infant nutrition and breast-feeding were
asked of proxy respondents for children 6 years of age and younger; and senior
meal program participation questions were asked of respondents 60 years of age
and older. Please review the questionnaire and codebook carefully. Frequency
counts were verified during the preparation of the file.
Interview Setting and Mode
of Administration
Questions on the frequencies of getting meals prepared away from home
(DBD895), meals from fast-food or pizza places (DBD900), and use of convenience
foods (DBD905 and DBD910) were answered by participants 12-15 years
old, at the mobile examination center (MEC), using the Audio Computer Assisted
Self Interviewing (ACASI) system. The same questions were asked of participants
1-11 years and of participants 16 years and older, in the home, by trained
interviewers using the Computer Assisted Personal Interviewing (CAPI) system.
All other questions in this section were asked in the home, as well.
Hand cards showing response categories were also used for some questions.
When necessary, the interviewers read the hand cards to respondents. Persons 16
years of age and older and emancipated minors were interviewed directly. A proxy
provided information for survey participants who were under 16 years of age and
for individuals who could not answer the questions themselves.
Quality Assurance & Quality
Control
The CAPI system is programmed with built-in consistency checks to reduce data
entry errors. CAPI also uses online help screens to assist interviewers in
defining key terms used in the questionnaire. All of the data was reviewed by
the NHANES field office staff for accuracy and completeness.
Data Processing and Editing
Frequency counts were checked, “skip” patterns were verified, and the
reasonableness of question responses was reviewed. Edits were made to some
variables to ensure the completeness, consistency, and analytic usefulness of
the data. Edits were also made, when necessary, to address data disclosure
concerns. When a variable was modified globally, as part of the editing process,
the third letter in the variable name was changed from a Q (i.e., DBQ) to a D
(i.e., DBD). For example, some data were collected using two variables (a number
variable and a unit of measure variable), but combined into a single variable
for data release purposes.
DBD020, DBD030, DBD041, DBD050, DBD055, and DBD061
(Breastfeeding and other childhood feeding practices)
This information was collected using two-part (number and unit) questions to
allow respondents to report the age of interest in days, weeks, months, or
years. The released variables were edited to standardize the reported age to
number of days, using the following conversion factors: 7 days/week, 30.4
days/month and 365 days/year.
DBD895 (Frequency of getting meals prepared away from home)
Respondents were asked how many times they had gotten meals that were
prepared away from home in the past 7 days. If the frequency was reported as
"never," the value was re-coded as zero. If the frequency was reported more than
21 times per week, the value was re-coded as “5555.”
DBD900 (Frequency of getting meals from fast food or
pizza places)
Respondents were asked how many times they had gotten meals
from fast food or pizza places in the past 7 days. If the frequency was reported
as "never," the value was re-coded as zero. If the frequency was reported more
than 21 times per week, the value was re-coded as “5555.”
DBD905
and DBD910 (Use of convenience foods)
This information was
collected using two-part (number and unit) questions to allow respondents to
report the frequency of interest as either per day, per week, or per month. The
released variables were edited to standardize the reported frequency to number
of times in the last 30 days. If the frequency was reported as "never," the
value was re-coded as zero.
Analytic Notes
DBD895, DBD900, DBD905, and DBD910 (Frequency of getting
meals prepared away from home, frequency of meals got from fast-food or pizza
places, and use of convenience foods)
These questions were asked as part of household interview for participants
1-11 (proxy interview used) and 16 or more years of age, the interview sample
weights may be used in their analysis. However, if the data is joined with other
data from the Mobile Examination Center (MEC), the exam sample weights
should be used. Analysis of these questions for 12 to 15 year olds should use
the exam sample weights because the questions were asked in the MEC for
this age group.
Please refer to the NHANES Analytic Guidelines and the on-line NHANES
Tutorial for further details on the use of sample weights and other analytic
issues. Both of these are available on the NHANES website.