PRESS
RELEASE
Release Date: For Immediate
Release
Kill Date:
May 26, 2004
Contact Person:
Lauren Shirey, M.P.H
Community Health Analyst
Genesee County Health Department
Phone:
(810) 768-7970
RE:
National
Health Survey Comes to
Genesee
County
The nation’s most comprehensive study of the health and
nutritional status of Americans gets underway in
Genesee
County
beginning May 26.
Approximately 400 randomly-selected Genesee County residents will
be called upon to participate in the National Health and Nutrition Examination
Survey (NHANES) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
in 15 counties across the country this year. Individuals selected for the
survey represent the
U.S.
population of all
ages.
“NHANES is very much like a ‘health exam center on wheels,’
that goes out into actual communities to get data on real Americans,” said
CDC Director Julie L. Gerberding. “It truly is a unique resource for health
information in this country, and without it we wouldn’t have data on a
number of important health conditions.”
According to Robert M. Pestronk, Health Officer and Director of the
Genesee
County Health Department: “Participation in NHANES provides information for
community residents, public health officials, legislators, and physicians.
Better health policies, better program design, and expanded knowledge about
the health of all Americans result.” In the past, NHANES data has been used
as the basis for such successful public health programs as the lead abatement
effort led by CDC, EPA, and HUD.
Respondents will first participate in a health interview conducted
in the respondent’s home. The physical examinations that follow include a
focused examination by a physician, as well as a dietary interview, body
measurement, and dental examination. Other health and laboratory tests will
depend on the age of the participant. The physical examinations will take
place in the mobile examination center set up on the campus of the
University
of
Michigan-Flint
at the parking
lot at
Fifth Avenue
and
Saginaw Street
.
No medical care is provided directly in the physical examination
center, but medical and dental reports of findings are given to each
participant if they
wish to receive them. All individual information collected in the survey is
kept strictly confidential, and privacy is protected by public law.
Participants selected to undergo the physical examination receive
reimbursement for travel expenses and are compensated up to $100 per person.
