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Title:
National Food Survey, 1991

Subject Categories:
National Food Survey - Major studies
Consumer behaviour - Economics
Nutrition - Health

Depositor(s):
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

Principal Investigator(s):
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys

Data Collector(s):
Social and Community Planning Research

Abstract:
The National Food Survey (NFS), which closed in 2000, was the longest-running continuous survey of household food consumption and expenditure in the world. It was originally set up in 1940 by the then Ministry of Food to monitor the adequacy of the diet of urban 'working class' households in wartime, but it was extended in 1950 to become representative of households throughout Great Britain (the UKDA holds NFS data from 1974-2000 only). In 1996 the survey was extended to cover Northern Ireland, thus allowing results for the United Kingdom to be presented for the first time.

The NFS provided a wealth of information which made a major contribution to the study of the changing patterns of household food consumption. About 8,000 households took part in the NFS each year. The household member who did most of the food shopping was asked some questions about the household and its food purchasing. They were then asked to keep a diary for seven days, recording food coming into the household, including quantities and expenditure, and some detail of the household meals (including snacks and picnics prepared from household supplies).

The last wave of the NFS was conducted in 2000. From 2001, the NFS was completely replaced by the Expenditure and Food Survey (EFS), which combined and superseded both the previous Family Expenditure Survey (FES) and the NFS. From 2008, the EFS became the Living Costs and Food Survey (LCF) (see under GN 33334).


Main Topics:
Each household which participated in the NFS did so voluntarily, and without payment, for one week only. By regularly changing the households surveyed, information was obtained continuously throughout the year except for a short break at Christmas. Each household was provided with a specially designed log-book in which the person principally responsible for domestic food arrangements provided information about each household. The main diary-keeper kept a record each day for seven days, with guidance from an interviewer, of all food entering the home intended for human consumption. Information about characteristics of the household and of its members was recorded on a separate questionnaire.

From 1994 an extension to the NFS was included to cover food and drink consumed outside the home, i.e. not from household supplies. The 'Eating Out Extension' provided estimates of average consumption, expenditure and the nutritional value of food eaten out, classified by the same household characteristics as the main survey and also by personal characteristics such as age and gender.

Coverage:
Dates of Fieldwork: 1991
Country: Great Britain
Spatial Units: Local Authority Districts
Observation Units: Families/households

Universe Sampled:
Location of Units of Observation:National
Population:Private households in Great Britain

Methodology:
Time Dimensions: Repeated cross-sectional study
annual
Sampling Procedures: One-stage stratified or systematic random sample
For details see documentation.
Number of Units: 7059 (obtained) Households
Method of Data Collection: Face-to-face interview; Expenditure diaries
Weighting: See documentation for details

Language(s) of Written Materials:
Study Description: English
Study Documentation: English

Access:
Access Conditions: The depositor has specified that registration is required and standard conditions of use apply. The depositor may be informed about usage. See terms and conditions for further information.
Availability: ESDS Government, UK Data Archive
Contact: Help desk: govsurveys@esds.ac.uk

Date of Release:
First Edition: 10 May 1995

Copyright:
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland

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