The NHANES III Supplemental Nutrition Survey of older Americans.

The number of Americans aged > or = 65 y will reach 70 million by the mid-21st century. Health and nutritional-status data for older populations are urgently needed to identify future health resource and program needs. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III), a 6-y survey of the civilian, noninstitutionalized US population > or = 2 mo old began in 1988; approximately 7000 of the 30,000 examinees are aged > or = 50 y. The NHANES III dietary assessment component includes 24-h dietary recall and food-frequency interviews; information on dietary practices, vitamin and mineral supplement use, food sufficiency, and functional status is obtained. The National Institute on Aging funded a special dietary study to collect two independent replicate 24-h recalls by telephone from NHANES III-Cycle I examinees aged > or = 50 y. The expanded dietary data set for older people will be analyzed to examine characteristics of in-house and telephone dietary interviews and to examine factors previously shown to affect energy and nutrient intake estimates for older people.