National Health Interview Survey, 1985: Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) Child Safety/Infant Feeding Supplement

The purpose of the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) is to obtain information about the amount and distribution of illness, its effects in terms of disability and chronic impairments, and the kinds of health services people receive. In 1985, the NHIS questionnaire included a special section, the Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (HPDP) supplement, that queried respondents with children under five years of age about child safety seats and infant feeding. Their responses to the supplement are recorded in this dataset, along with other information about them derived from the HPDP and the 1985 core questionnaire (see HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY, 1985 [ICPSR 8668]). The special section on child safety and infant feeding asked respondents with children under the age of 10 in the family whether they had heard of poison control centers, whether they had the telephone number to the poison control center, and whether they had ipecac syrup in the house. Respondents with children under the age of five in the family were asked whether they knew about child safety seats, whether a doctor told them about using child safety seats, whether they used the car safety seat when leaving the hospital after the baby's birth, whether the child currently had a car safety seat, whether the child was buckled into a car safety seat, and whether the child wore a seat belt. Respondents with children under five years of age were also asked if the child was ever breastfed and the age of the child when breastfeeding was completely stopped. Other variables in the HPDP focus on health and fitness awareness, general health habits, injury control, child safety and health, high blood pressure, stress, exercise, smoking, alcohol use, dental care, and occupational safety and health. Variables from the core questionnaire include height, weight, age, race, sex, Hispanic origin, type of living quarters, region and metropolitan status of residence, marital status, veteran status, education, family income, health status, industry, occupation, activity limitation status, medical conditions, restricted activity days in the past two weeks, bed days in the past two weeks and past 12 months, time interval since the last doctor visit, and the number of doctor visits and short-stay hospital episodes in the past 12 months.