Description

For sample adults in 1999, DITLSYR reports whether the person had used lifestyle diets in the past 12 months. The 1999 Field Representative's Manual defined a lifestyle diet as "having a specific food plan to help with a particular health problem" and excluded commercial weight loss programs such as Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig. This definition was not routinely shared with respondents.

In 1999, the NHIS questions dealing with the use of alternative health treatments were limited to whether the respondent had used any of a variety of such treatments, including lifestyle diets, in the past year. By contrast, the 2002 and 2007 surveys greatly expanded the scope of inquiry regarding alternative health treatments. For the full list of alternative health treatments covered in the NHIS, and for general background information about the 2002 and 2007 Alternative Health supplements, see ACUYR.

Although DITLSYR--which covers the use of unspecified "lifestyle diets"--is only available for 1999, the 2002 and 2007 surveys provide variables related to the use of particular special diets, including the Atkins, macrobiotic, Ornish, Pritikin, South Beach, vegetarian, and Zone diets (see DITATKINYR).

Comparability

DITLSYR is only available for 1999.

Universe

Availability

• 1999

Weights

• 1999 : SAMPWEIGHT