National Diet and Nutrition Survey
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey assesses the diet, nutrient intake and nutritional status of the general population of the UK.
The National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) is a continuous, cross-sectional survey. It is designed to collect detailed, quantitative information on the food consumption, nutrient intake and nutritional status of the population living in private households in the UK. Fieldwork began in 2008.
The UK NDNS is funded by the Department of Health and Social Care and the UK Food Standards Agency. Northern Ireland government bodies fund additional recruitment to allow separate reporting of results for Northern Ireland.
The contract for NDNS for 2024 to 2029 (fieldwork years 16 to 20) has been awarded to the National Centre for Social Research working with the MRC Epidemiology Unit at the University of Cambridge. This contract will include a urinary sodium survey of adults in England.
NDNS provides essential evidence on the diet and nutrition of the UK population to enable the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities to identify and address nutritional issues in the population, and monitor progress towards public health nutrition objectives.
Blood and urine samples collected from NDNS participants since 2008 are stored in a biorepository and are available on application for health-related research in the public interest. For more information please visit the NDNS bioresource webpage.
You can contact NDNS by emailing ndns@dhsc.gov.uk.
NDNS reports
Earlier and archived NDNS reports are also still available from the UK Government and from the Food Standards Agency.
Methods reports
Nutrient analysis reports
Updates to this page
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Updated information about the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS), including adding a contact email address. Also, brought together all the NDNS reports into one section.
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Added 'Nutrient analysis of cows’ milk: sampling and analytical report'.
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Updated to reflect the latest information on the NDNS rolling programme and added the 'Evaluation of change in dietary methodology in NDNS rolling programme: stage 2' report to collection.
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Added 'Evaluation of change in dietary methodology in NDNS rolling programme: Stage 1'.
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Added National Diet and Nutrition Survey: assessment of salt intake from urinary sodium in adults in England, 2018 to 2019.
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Added 'NDNS: time trend and income analyses for Years 1 to 9'.
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Added 'NDNS: results from years 7 and 8 (combined)'.
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First published.