Food- and nutrient-related

• 3 consecutive days of dietary intake - first day using in-person 24-hour recall, second and third days using 2-day record.
• Food intakes in grams - by food item and by ARS-defined food groups and subgroups.
• Intakes of food energy and 28 dietary components.
• Intakes of food energy and 15 nutrients as percentages of the 1989 RDAs.
• Identification of foods eaten in combinations.
• Whether or not fat and/or salt was used in the preparation of each home-prepared food (asked only of main meal-planner/preparer).
• Whether the amount of food eaten yesterday was usual, less than usual, or more than usual and the reason if an unusual amount of intake was reported.
• Type of measurement aid used in estimating amount eaten.

Sources of food:

• Was the food item eaten at home?
• Was the food item brought into the home but later eaten away from home?
• If never brought into the home, where was the food item obtained - e.g., store, restaurant, fast food place, school, someone else's home?

Water:

• Amount of plain drinking water drunk yesterday and how much was from home supplies.
• Usual daily amount of water.

Eating Occasion:

• Time of eating occasion.
• Name of eating occasion - breakfast; brunch; lunch; dinner; supper; snack, beverage break, or happy hour; infant feeding; other.
• Whether eaten alone or in the company of others.

Food program participation:

• Food Stamp Program - participation now and last 12 months, value of food stamps, when food stamps were last received, and household members eligible at time of survey.
• School Lunch/Breakfast Programs - payment (full, reduced price, free) and frequency of participation for household members 5 through 18 years; participation in child care programs providing meals or snacks for household members 1 through 5 years.
• WIC Program - participation by individual and length of participation.
• Whether household received USDA surplus food in past 3 months and type of surplus food.

Food sufficiency:

• Is the food eaten in your household: Enough of the kinds of food we want to eat, enough but not always what we want to eat, sometimes not enough to eat, often not enough to eat?

Food shopping practices:

• Frequency of shopping, type of store, and distance from home.
• Amount spent at grocery stores, on nonfood items, and at specialty stores and carryout places for food brought into the home. Amount of money spent for food bought and eaten away from home.
• Meal planning, shopping, and preparing food - which household members do these tasks?

Health-related:

• Self-assessed healthfulness of own diet.
• Whether consider self to be vegetarian.
• Dieting status - individuals on diets; type and source of diet.
• Vitamin and mineral supplements - individuals taking supplements, type, and frequency.
• Other supplements - fish oil, fiber.
• Self-reported height and weight; body mass index (calculated); self-assessed weight status.
• Cigarette smoking, self-assessed health status, physician-diagnosed diseases or conditions (including food allergies), ever had blood cholesterol checked.
• Existence of disability/handicap that limits activities; chewing/dentition (questions changed between 1989 and 1990).
• Use and handling of fully cooked meat and poultry dishes purchased from a store or delicatessen (1989 only).
• Salt added at table and frequency of use.
• Activity level - usual level of physical activity in leisure time; comparison of own activity level with others of same age and sex; hours of television watched yesterday.
• Frequencies of use of selected foods/beverages during the past 3 months and usual amount consumed.

Individual (person):

• Age, sex, race, Hispanic origin.
• Education level for all household members 15 years and older.
• Work status for all household members 15 years and older - occupation, number of hours worked last week.
• Pregnancy or lactation status; breastfeeding status of children 3 years old or less.

Household:

• Region - Northeast, Midwest, South, West.
• Urbanization - central city, suburban, nonmetropolitan.
• Household size and composition.
• Income - last year's household income before taxes, income as a percentage of the poverty thresholds, last month's income by source (entire household and Food Stamp recipients), savings or cash assets under $5,000.
• Tenancy.
• Does anyone in household operate a farm or ranch; did sales of crops, livestock, and other farm products amount to $1,000 or more last year?

Sampling:

• Day-1 sampling weights - final annual weights and 3-year weights.
• 3-day sampling weights - final annual weights and 3-year weights.
• Day of week of intake.
• Month of intake.
• Sample design fields pertinent to variance estimation - stratum, PSU (primary sampling unit), and area segment.