ICECREAMNO is a 3-digit-numeric variable.

0: Never or less than 6 times per year
996: Not in Universe
997: Unknown-refused
998: Unknown-not ascertained
999: Unknown-don't know

Description

For sample adults, ICECREAMNO reports how many times the respondent ate ice cream in a specified time period. ICECREAMNO should be used in conjunction with ICECREAMTP, which reports the corresponding time unit stated by the respondent. For information about the portion size, see ICECREMSIZ.

ICECREAMNO is part of a series of variables initiated in 1987 related to food, food knowledge, and cancer.

Comparability

Prior to 2000, respondents were asked about foods they usually ate in the past year. Beginning in 2000, this recall period was reduced to foods the respondent usually ate in the past month. The structure of the responses (recording number of times a food was consumed and the time unit associated with that frequency) makes it possible to compare response categories even with different recall periods.

Beginning in 2010, this includes ice cream and other frozen desserts, but not sugar-free types of frozen desserts. Prior to 2010, interviewers were instructed to include all forms of ice cream and ice milk, including milk shakes but told to exclude sherbet, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and frozen fruit bars. In 1992, respondents were told not to include fat-free ice cream.

Changes in survey design (e.g., quarters in which the supplement was collected) may affect raw frequencies, but do not affect comparability of the variable. As always, data users should use the prescribed IPUMS NHIS weights.

Universe

Availability

• 1987, 1992, 2010, 2015

Weights

• 1987, 1992, 2010, 2015 : SAMPWEIGHT