The National Nutrition Survey II

Current and reliable baseline data for a German nutrition reporting

Ch. Brombach, U. Wagner, M. Eisinger-Watzl, A. Heyer, Karlsruhe

The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection commissioned the Federal Research Centre for Nutrition and Food in Karlsruhe to conduct a nationwide National Nutrition Survey.

Nutrition policy is dependent upon representative, current, reliable and valid data on the nutritional status and dietary behaviour of Germans. The first representative National Nutrition Survey was compiled almost 20 years ago and concerned the old German Länder . Since then, food supply, food preparation, working, leisure-time and consumer behaviour have considerably changed. Objectives of the Consumption Survey are

• to obtain representative data on current food-consumption patterns
• to obtain data on nutritional status and nutritional behaviour
• to identify life-style types and nutritional patterns
• to establish innovative methods in the field of dietary surveys
• to implement a revised version of the German Food Code and Nutrient Data Base (BLS)

The sample will comprise 20,000 German speaking residents between 14 and 80 years of age living in private households. The study includes a personal computer-assisted interview (CAPI) and anthropometric measurements, a questionnaire to be completed by the participants, and two subsequent computer-assisted telephone interviews (CATI) with 24 h-recalls on two randomized days. The overall field phase will extend over 13 months to also include seasonal aspects.

Public relation campaigns and concepts for action are to ensure nationwide compliance by the population in general, the scientific community and professional organizations. An interactive homepage (www.was-esse-ich.de) and an NVS II logo are essential elements of the PR.

The modular design of the NVS is to collect baseline data in the core module. The data shall provide a general overview of the nutritional status and dietary behaviour of the German population. Supplementary modules will allow to focus on specific questions or special risk groups. The National Nutrition Survey II is assisted by two advisory boards. The scientific advisory board will be of help in methodological issues while the advisory board of users will advise in questions concerning the highest dissemination of the information expected.

Key words: National Nutrition Survey II / German nutrition monitoring /food consumption patterns / nutrition status

Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs-Umschau 01/06 ab Seite 4.