The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is one of the major surveys of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) was conducted in two phases between October 1988 and October 1994. It was designed to obtain nationally representative information on the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population through in-home interviews and direct physical examinations conducted in a mobile examination center (MEC). NHANES III is the seventh in a series of national examination studies conducted in the U. S. beginning in 1960, and is the first NHANES to include persons 75 years of age and over.

The goals of the NHANES III are similar to those of earlier NHANES and are listed below. The last two are new for the NHANES III.

The NHANES III Household Youth Data File contains all data collected during the household interviews for children and youths 2 months to 16 years of age. Demographic data, survey design variables, and sampling weights for this age group are also included. The data that comprise this file were obtained from three separate interviews administered in the household: the Screener, the Family, and Household Youth questionnaires.