ABSTRACT
This chapter presents an overview of nutrition monitoring and related research activities carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), along with links to useful Web sites within these and other agencies. Nutrition monitoring activities in the HHS are conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) in the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Within the USDA, the Food Surveys Research Group (FSRG) implements food consumption surveys. (See Box 5.1.)
Health statistics provide critical information on where we stand as individuals and as a society. Statistics inform us about public health challenges and provide a basis for understanding existing problems. Health statistics are used to create a basis for comparisons between population groups as well as to demonstrate trends in health status and how they develop and change over time.
