The CDC has chosen 5,000 Hennepin County residents to help provide a snapshot of the nation's health.
Officials with the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, or "N-HANES," will be conducting health interviews and providing free health exams later this month. On Friday, they gave tours of their mobile exam center at the Minneapolis Marriott West. Survey Director Colette Quintana spoke to WCCO’s Laura Oakes.
“It’s actually the most comprehensive survey that of the health and nutrition status of the U.S. because it combines health interviews and physical examinations both, to create a complete picture of the nation’s health,” Quintana explained.
Quintana says participants will be getting all of the medical tests for free, and will receive a report of their results. Hennepin County is one of only 15 counties in the nation participating in this year's survey.
“They’ll be weighed and measured, they will have their blood pressure taken, a body composition test, a liver ultrasound,” says Quintana. “It depends on ages, as to what tests they’ll receive. There are tests on urine and blood and it’s about $4,500 worth of tests.”
Quintana says residents who are participating will receive a small stipend plus reimbursement for mileage and child care costs.
“So we have randomly selected counties around the country, and then we ask residents in those counties to participate,” she said.
The NHANES program began in the early 1960s and has been conducted as a series of surveys focusing on different population groups or health topics. NHANES is a major program of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). NCHS is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and has the responsibility for producing vital and health statistics for the Nation.
