Details of the Survey
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey is a study of people’s eating habits across the UK. The results of the survey help to get an overview of the nutritional habits of the country as a whole and find out how much fruit, vegetables, saturated fats and sugar people are eating. This will help the Government monitor their targets, such as the 5-a-day recommendation for fruit and vegetables.
Received a letter?
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey – Have you received a letter asking you to take part?
One of our interviewers will visit in the next week or so. We understand you may be busy, so we’ll organise the interview at your home at a time that suits you. Your interviewer will ask you about a range of topics such as your eating habits, health and lifestyle and ask you to fill in a food diary for four days. We will also ask you if you would like to be interviewed by one of our nurses, who will take some measurements, like your blood pressure.
Methodology
28 addresses are selected at random from 24 postcode sectors throughout the year giving a yearly sample of 672. Within each postcode sector at 10 of the 28 addresses one adult (aged 19 years and older) and one child (aged 1.5 to 18 years) are eligible to take part. At the remaining 18 addresses one child only is eligible to take part.
Selected individuals are asked to complete a diary of food and drink consumption over four consecutive days (with the start date randomly allocated) and an interview is conducted to collect background information on dietary habits, socio-demographic status, lifestyle and physical activity. Participants who agree to a nurse visit are asked to provide a blood sample to assess biochemical indices of nutritional status and those aged four and older are asked to provide a 24 hour urine collection to assess salt intake. Physical measurements are also collected.
Results / Publications
Follow the links below for results and publications:
https://www.food.gov.uk/northern-ireland/researchni/ndns-ni
Contacts
For more information on the National Diet and Nutrition Survey please contact:
Stuart Bennett on 02890 255100 or email at stuart.bennett@finance-ni.gov.uk