Federal Monitoring Activities Related to Food and Nutrition: How do they Compare?

Several nutrition monitoring related activities are carried out by the federal government in the United States. These include the What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (WWEIA, NHANES), the Total Diet Study (TDS), and the Nutrient Availability Data (NA). The intent, purpose, and methodology of the activities, and their inter-relationships were examined. Mean intakes of selected nutrients common to the datasets were compared. It is important to consider the purpose of these datasets when comparing results.