Nationwide Food Consumption Survey

Gao ID: CED-77-56 March 25, 1977

The Nationwide Food Consumption Survey which the Department of Agriculture (USDA) began in April, 1977, was reviewed in order to determine what types of analyses can be done with the data, what planning changes have occurred since survey conception in 1974, and whether it will yield accurate information on the diet of low-income families and of overall food consumption in the United States. The sample will be of 15,000 households, with 5,000 low-income households, almost half of whom participate in the food stamp program.

The survey sample is too small to provide useful information in evaluating food assistance programs and in identifying nutritional problems of low-income families. Additional low-income families should be sampled to provide this information. The survey methodology has not been fully validated, and the results will be open to criticism. There are no assurances that the data obtained will actually measure the amount of food consumed.

Recommendations

Our recommendations from this work are listed below with a Contact for more information. Status will change from "In process" to "Open," "Closed - implemented," or "Closed - not implemented" based on our follow up work.

Director: No director on record Team: No team on record Phone: No phone on record


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