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NHANES is a national survey that measures the health and nutrition of adults and children in the United States.NHANES is the only national health survey that includes health exams and laboratory tests for participants of all ages.

The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) monitors the health of people across the country—the U.S. population—by collecting and analyzing data on a broad range of health topics. NHIS focuses on the health of U.S. children and adults. It began collecting data in 1957.

The Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) is the nation’s premier system of health-related telephone surveys that collect state data about U.S. residents regarding their health-related risk behaviors, chronic health conditions, and use of preventive services. Established in 1984 with 15 states, BRFSS now collects data in all 50 states as well as the District of Columbia and three U.S. territories. BRFSS completes more than 400,000 adult interviews each year, making it the largest continuously conducted health survey system in the world.

The Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) measures health-related behaviors and experiences that can lead to death and disability among youth and adults. Results help monitor health trends, identify emerging issues, and plan and evaluate programs that can help improve adolescent health.

The Women's Health Initiative (WHI), sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), is a long-term national health study that focuses on strategies for preventing heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. These chronic diseases are the major causes of death, disability, and frailty in older women of all races and backgrounds. The original WHI study had three parts—a clinical trial, an observational study, and a community prevention study—and completed data collection in 2005. The WHI continues to contribute to the science of women’s health through extension and ancillary studies. The WHI is the largest women’s health prevention study ever conducted.

The Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study II are among the largest investigations into the risk factors for major chronic diseases in women.

Since our beginning in 1948, the Framingham Heart Study, under the direction of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), formerly known as the National Heart Institute, has been committed to identifying the common factors or characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD).