China Health and Nutrition Survey

The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), an ongoing open cohort, international collaborative project between the Carolina Population Center and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC), was designed to examine the effects of the health, nutrition, and family planning policies and programs implemented by national and local governments and to see how the social and economic transformation of Chinese society is affecting the health and nutritional status of its population. The impact on nutrition and health behaviors and outcomes is gauged by changes in community organizations and programs as well as by changes in sets of household and individual economic, demographic, physiological, and social factors.  The data have been collected in 9 survey years between 1989 and 2011 and are organized in longitudinal files.

Sample:

  • Individuals:  35,000
  • Households:  8,600
  • Provinces:  12

Household Level Data

Sample:  8,600

Data from each household include a roster of members, background demographics, income from farming, fishing, small business, and other activities, household assets, and water and sanitation quality.

Topics

  • Family & Household Characteristics
  • Demographic characteristics
  • Finances & SES
  • Water quality

Diet Data

Sample:  35,000 individuals

The data are three days of diet record for each individual, as well as an inventory of the key household level cooking ingredients that contribute fats and sodium to the diet. Data are organized as household, meal per person per day, and the 3-day record of daily food consumption.

Topics

  • Nutrition

Constructed Variables

Sample:  7,200 households

The data include constructed measures of household-level income.

Topics

  • Finances & SES

Supplemental Files

Index of Household and Individual Level Variables (Questions) and the files in which they are located.

ID variable documentation

Individual Level Data

Individual Level Data includes Adult Level Data and Child Level Data.

Adult Level Data

Sample:  20,000

Data include occupation both in and outside the home, time allocation, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and soft drink consumption, physical activity, use of health services, disease history, diet, marital history, pregnancy and birth history, fertility preferences, mass media, eating disorders, and physical measurements.

Child Level Data

Sample:  10,000

Children ages 0-17 or their household informant provided data about occupation both in and outside the home, time allocation, child care, caffeine, tobacco, alcohol, and soft drink consumption, physical activity, use of health services, disease history, diet, first menstruation, mass media, eating disorders, and physical measurements.

Topics

  • Demographic characteristics
  • Occupation
  • Childrearing
  • Alcohol & Tobacco
  • Physical activity
  • Health behaviors
  • Physical health
  • Nutrition
  • Marriage
  • Childbearing
  • Anthropometry

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Community-Level Data (Community-Level Data)

The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) began in 1989 and as of 2015 had collected 10 rounds of data. The CHNS obtains information on health, reproduction, nutrition, income, assets, expenditures, employment, and education from members of Chinese households and from the households themselves. Additional data on aging and physical activity and inactivity were added for CHNS1997 and subsequent surveys, and data on mass media use were added for CHNS2000 and subsequent surveys. Geocoordinates of communities’ center, major restaurants and markets, and the respondents' homes were added for CHNS2009 and subsequent surveys, and biospecimens were collected for CHNS2009 and every other subsequent survey. The survey has also collected information about the communities in which the households are located.

Community-Level Data

The China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) began in 1989 and as of 2015 had collected 10 rounds of data. The CHNS obtains information on health, reproduction, nutrition, income, assets, expenditures, employment, and education from members of Chinese households and from the households themselves. Additional data on aging and physical activity and inactivity were added for CHNS1997 and subsequent surveys, and data on mass media use were added for CHNS2000 and subsequent surveys. Geocoordinates of communities’ center, major restaurants and markets, and the respondents' homes were added for CHNS2009 and subsequent surveys, and biospecimens were collected for CHNS2009 and every other subsequent survey. The survey has also collected information about the communities in which the households are located.