Preliminary study on regional representation model applied for monitoring nutrition and health status

The nutrition and health status is a series of important indicators reflecting the economic and social development, health care service and the residents′ health status in a country or region.These indicators play vital roles in nutrition policy making, promoting residents′ nutrition and health status and guiding food consumption.After the foundation of the People′s Republic of China, 5 national nutrition and health surveys or surveillance were carried out.Shanghai Diet and Health Survey was the first provincial-level representative nutrition and health survey around the whole country.The information of nutrition and health status was obtained representing the overall situation of Shanghai residents.It was a pilot on the model of provincial-level representative nutrition and health survey.Nowadays, the parallel of provincial-level survey and the national-wide survey/surveillance should be fully encouraged and supported.This could provide reliable basis for national and local nutrition and health policy making.