Nutrition and Health Survey of Taiwan Elementary School Children 2001-2002: Research design, methods and scope

The "Nutrition and Health Survey of Taiwan's Elementary School Children (2001-2002)" was to investigate the nutritional status, influential dietary and non-dietary factors, health and development, and school performance, as well as the inter-relationships among these factors. The survey adopted a two-staged stratified, clustered probability sampling scheme. Towns and districts in Taiwan with particular ethnic and geographical characteristics were designated into 13 strata including Hakka areas, mountain areas, eastern Taiwan, the Penghu Islands, 3 northern regions, 3 central regions and 3 southern regions. Eight schools were selected from each stratum using the probabilities proportional to sizes method. Twenty-four pupils were randomly selected within each school. The survey included face-to-face interviews and health examinations. Taking seasonal effects into consideration, the face-to-face interviews were evenly allocated into each of the two semesters. A total of 2,419 face-to-face interviews and 2,475 health examinations were completed. Interview data included household information, socio-demographics, 24-hour dietary recall, food frequency, dietary and nutritional knowledge, attitudes and behaviors, physical activity, medical history, oral health, pubertal development, and bone health. Health exam data included anthropometry, blood pressure, physical fitness, bone density, dental health, and blood and urine collection. SUDAAN was used to adjust sampling design effect. There were no significant differences in sibling rank and parental characteristics between respondents and non-respondents, which indicates that our survey is representative and unbiased. The results of this survey will increase our understanding on the nutrition and health status of schoolchildren and can be used to shape public health policy in Taiwan.