American Time Use Survey
Eating and Health Module Questionnaire
March 2010

The ATUS Eating and Health Module is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service and the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute. The ATUS is sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) and the National Institutes of Health's National Cancer Institute, the Eating and Health (EH) Module was introduced into the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) in January 2006. The ATUS is a continuous survey that started in January 2003. The EH Module consists of questions designed to examine relationships between time use; purchasing, preparing, and consuming food; and obesity. It contains questions on secondary eating habits (eating while doing other activities such as driving or watching TV); respondent's height and weight; his/her household's participation in the Food Stamp Program; children's consumption of meals prepared at day care, school, or summer programs; grocery shopping and meal preparation; and household income.

The EH Module questionnaire is intended to provide the data user with question universes, question wording, response choices, and skip patterns based on different responses. It includes descriptions of most survey variables defined in the EH Module data dictionary, and any variables necessary to understand the creation of those variables. Information for each variable is contained within individual boxes in this document. (See example below.) Text, as well as selected screen shots, is included to provide further explanation of the data collection instrument.

Please note that not all EH Module variables are on the data files available to the public. Some variables are processed further after collection to improve data quality, and some are suppressed to protect the confidentiality of ATUS respondents as required by law. For more information, please see the section titled ATUS Naming Conventions and Definitions in the ATUS EH Module Data Dictionary (http://www.bls.gov/tus/dictionaries.htm).

Section 1: Introduction

The EH Module begins with an introductory screen explaining the purpose of the module questions, and then proceeds to the screen asking the secondary eating questions.

EATINT
Universe: ALL

We're interested in finding out more about how people fit meals and snacks into their schedules.

Enter 1 to Continue [Go to EAT]

Section 2: Secondary Eating
Secondary eating questions are designed to provide information on the amount of time that respondents spend eating while engaged in other activities during their diary day.

EAT
Universe: EATINT = 1

[Fill: Yesterday, you reported eating or drinking between *read times below.] [Fill: You did not report any eating or drinking as a main activity yesterday] Were there any [fill: other] times you were eating any meals or snacks yesterday, for example while you were doing something else?

1. Yes [Go to EATSUM]
2. No [Go to DRINK]

EATSUM
Universe: EAT =1

[*Times: [FILL:] until [FILL:]] During which activities?

*Read if necessary: Were there any other times you were eating yesterday?

1. Select activities [Go to EATWHN]
96. All Day [Go to DRINK]
97. None/no more eating activities [Go to DRINK]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to DRINK]

EATWHN
Universe: EATSUM=1

Were you eating the entire time you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

* Use up/down arrow keys to move to the correct row.

1. Yes [Go to next row in the grid]
2. No [Go to HOURDUR]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to next row in the grid]

HOURDUR
Universe: EATWHN=1

About how long would you say you were eating while you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

* Enter hours

0-24 hours, empty [Go to MINDUR]
Don't Know/ Refused [Go to next line of grid]

MINDUR
Universe: Entry in HOURDUR

About how long would you say you were eating while you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

* Enter minutes

0-1440 minutes, empty [Go to next line of grid. When grid complete, go to DRINK]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to next line of grid. When grid complete, go to DRINK]

Section 3: Secondary Drinking
The secondary drinking questions are similar to the secondary eating questions. They are designed to provide information on the amount of time that respondents spend drinking all beverages, except for water, while engaged in the activities that they reported on their diary day.

DRINK
Universe: EAT = 2, Don't Know, Refused or EATSUM = 96, 97

Not including plain water, were there any other times yesterday when you were drinking any beverages?

*Read if necessary: I'm asking about any type of beverage, other than plain water, including things like coffee, tea, juice, milk, and soda, as well as alcoholic beverages.

1. Yes [Go to DRNKSUM]
2. No [Go to FODPRP]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to FODPRP]

DRNKSUM
Universe: DRINK=1

During which activities?

*Read if necessary: Were there any other times yesterday when you were drinking anything other than plain water?

1. Select activity [Go to DRNKWHN]
96. All day [Go to FODPRP]
97. None/no more activities [Go to FODPRP]

DRNKWHN
Universe: DRINKSUM=1

Were you drinking the entire time you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

*Read if necessary: Were there any other times yesterday when you were drinking anything other than plain water?

1. Select activity [Go to DRNKWHN]
97. None [Go to FODPRP]
Don't Know/ Refused [Go to next row in grid]

HOURDUR
Universe: DRINKWHN=2

About how long would you say you were drinking while you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

* Enter hours

0-24 hours, empty [Go to MINDUR]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to next row in grid]

MINDUR
Universe: Entry in HOURDUR

About how long would you say you were eating while you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

*Enter minutes

0-1440 minutes, empty [Go to next line of grid. When grid complete, go to FODPRP]
Don't Know/Refused [Go to next line of grid. When grid complete, go to FODPRP]

Section 4: Food Preparation

FODPRP
Universe: All

Now I'd like to ask a couple of questions about food preparation.
Enter 1 to Continue [Go to GROSHP]

GROSHP
Universe: FODPRP=1

Are you the person who usually does the grocery shopping in your household?

1. Yes
2. No
3. I split it equally with other household member(s)
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [Go to PRPMEL]

PRPMEL
Universe: FODPRP=1, 2, 3, Don't Know, Refused

Are you the person who usually prepares the meals in your household?

1. Yes
2. No
3. I split it equally with other household member(s)
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [Go to FODSTP]

FODSTP
Universe: PRPMEL=1, 2, 3, Don't Know, Refused

In the past 30 days, [fill: did you/did anyone in your household] get food stamp [or SNAP] benefits?

1. Yes
2. No
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [If there is at least one person on the roster that meets the following criteria:
HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 and DELDEC not equal 1-3, Go to CHDMEL]
[ELSE Go to HEALTH]

Section 4.1 Food preparation away from home
CHDMEL
Universe: Roster contains at least one person meeting the following criteria:
HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 and DELDEC not equal 1-3

Now I'd like to ask about how [fill: you / the children in your household] fit [fill: your /
their] meals in when [fill: you / they] are away from home.
Enter 1 to Continue [Go to SCLBRK]

SCLBRK
Universe: CHDMEL=1

Please think back over the past week starting last [fill: interview day of week] up to today, [fill: interview day of week]. In the past week, did [fill: you / names of household children under the age of 19/you or names of household children under the age of 19] eat a BREAKFAST that was prepared and served at a school, [fill: a paid day care], [fill: a Head Start center], [fill: or] [fill: a summer day program]? This question refers ONLY to BREAKFASTS prepared at the school or center-not meals brought from home.

* Read if necessary: PAID but informal day care, such as neighbors' or family members' households SHOULD count.

1. Yes [if HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 and DELDEC not equal 1-3 for more than one household member Go to BWCHLD] [Else Go to SCLLCH]
2. No [Go to SCLLCH]
3. Child / Children did not attend school, day care, Head Start, or summer day program
[Go to HEALTH]

BWCHLD
Universe: SCLBRK = 1 and HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 for more than one hh member

Which children?

*Read names
*Check all that apply
Check lines 1-30
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [Go to SCLLCH]

SCLLCH
Universe: CHDMEL=1

What about LUNCH? In the past week, did [you / names of household children under the age of 19 / you or names of household children under the age of 19] eat a LUNCH that was prepared and served at a school, [a paid day care], [a Head Start center], [or] [a summer day program]? This question refers ONLY to LUNCHES prepared at the school or center not meals brought from home.

* Read if necessary: PAID but informal day care, such as neighbors' or family members' households SHOULD count.

1. Yes [if HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 and DELDEC not equal 1-3 for more than one household member Go to LWCHLD]
[Else Go to HEALTH]
2. No [Go to HEALTH]
3. Child / Children did not attend school, day care, Head Start, or summer day program
[Go to HEALTH]

LWCHLD
Universe: SCLLCH = 1 AND (HHMEM = 1 and AGE less than 19 and DELDEC ? 1-3 for more than one household member)

Which children?

Select lines 1-30
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [Go to HEALTH]

Section 5: Physical Health

HEALTH
Universe: ALL

Alright, we're almost done here. I'm going to switch topics and ask you a few final questions about your physical health that might affect how you use your time.

Enter 1 to continue [Go to GENHTH]

GENHTH
Universe: ALL

In general, would you say that your physical health is Excellent, Very Good, Good, Fair, or Poor?

1. Excellent
2. Very Good
3. Good
4. Fair
5. Poor
Don't Know/Refused

All entries: [Go to HEIGHT]

HEIGHT
Universe: ALL