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Johnson AF, Lamontagne N, Bhupathiraju SN, Brown AG, Eicher-Miller HA, Fulgoni VL, Rehm CD, Tucker KL, Woteki CE, Ohlhorst SD. Workshop summary: building an NHANES for the future. Am J Clin Nutr 2024; 119:1075-1081. [PMID: 38331096 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2024.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2023] [Revised: 01/26/2024] [Accepted: 02/01/2024] [Indexed: 02/10/2024] Open
Abstract
The American Society for Nutrition's (ASN) Committee on Advocacy and Science Policy (CASP) organized a workshop, "Building a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for the Future," held during NUTRITION 2023, which took place in Boston, MA in July 2023. CASP had already identified an urgent need for increased support and modernization to ensure that a secure future for NHANES is achievable. The survey faces challenges associated with data collection, stagnant funding, and a need for more granular data for subpopulations and groups at risk. The workshop provided an overview of NHANES, including the nutrition component, and the many other uses for the survey's data, which extend beyond nutrition. Speakers highlighted NHANES's current and emerging challenges, as well as possible solutions to address these challenges, especially with regard to response rates of underrepresented groups, linkage of survey data to other resources, incorporation of new survey methodologies, and emerging data needs. The workshop also included a "Town Hall" component to gather additional feedback on NHANES' challenges and proposed solutions from audience members. The workshop provided many possible action items that ASN will explore and use to inform effective continued advocacy in support of NHANES and to find possible opportunities for ASN and others to partner with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Health Statistics to strengthen this vital survey and maintain its robust and relevant data moving forward.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Shilpa N Bhupathiraju
- Channing Division of Network Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital and Department of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, United States
| | - Alison Gm Brown
- Clinical Applications and Preventions Branch, Division of Cardiovascular Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MD, United States
| | | | | | - Colin D Rehm
- Research & Development, PepsiCo, Inc., Purchase, NY, United States
| | - Katherine L Tucker
- Department of Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Lowell, MA, United States
| | - Catherine E Woteki
- Department of Food Science & Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, United States
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Taylor CL, Madans JH, Chapman NN, Woteki CE, Briefel RR, Dwyer JT, Merkel JM, Rothwell CJ, Klurfeld DM, Seres DS, Coates PM. Critical data at the crossroads: the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey faces growing challenges. Am J Clin Nutr 2023; 117:847-858. [PMID: 36907514 PMCID: PMC10316367 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2023.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
NHANES needs urgent attention to ensure its future, which is facing emerging challenges associated with data collection, stagnant funding that has undercut innovation, and the increased call for granular data for subpopulations and groups at risk. The concerns do not rest merely on securing more funding but focus on the need for a constructive review of the survey to explore new approaches and identify appropriate change. This white paper, developed under the auspices of the ASN's Committee on Advocacy and Science Policy (CASP), is a call to the nutrition community to advocate for and support activities to prepare NHANES for future success in a changing nutrition world. Furthermore, because NHANES is much more than a nutrition survey and serves the needs of many in health fields and even commercial arenas, effective advocacy must be grounded in alliances among the survey's diverse stakeholders so that the full range of expertise and interests can engage. This article highlights the complicated nature of the survey along with key overarching challenges to underscore the importance of a measured, thoughtful, comprehensive, and collaborative approach to considering the future of NHANES. Starting-point questions are identified for the purposes of focusing dialog, discussion forums, and research. In particular, the CASP calls for a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study on NHANES to articulate an actionable framework for NHANES going forward. With a well-informed and integrated set of goals and recommendations that could be provided by such a study, a secure future for NHANES is more readily achievable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christine L Taylor
- Retired, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, College Park, MD, USA and Chair, Committee on Advocacy and Science Policy, American Society for Nutrition, USA.
| | - Jennifer H Madans
- Retired, National Center for Health Statistics, Hyattsville, MD, USA
| | | | - Catherine E Woteki
- Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
| | | | - Johanna T Dwyer
- Tufts University School of Medicine and Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Boston, MA, USA
| | | | | | - David M Klurfeld
- Retired, Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Beltsville, MD, USA and Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, IN, USA
| | - David S Seres
- Institute of Human Nutrition and Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
| | - Paul M Coates
- Retired, Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA and Indiana University School of Public Health, Bloomington, IN, USA
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