National Health Interview Survey, 1991: Pregnancy and Smoking 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. This supplement includes variables from the core Person File (see NATIONAL HEALTH INTERVIEW SURVEY, 1991 [ICPSR 6049]), including sex, age, race, marital status, veteran status, education, income, industry and occupation codes, and limits on activity. The variables unique to this supplement, which surveyed women aged 18-49, cover two major areas: pregnancy and smoking. Each respondent was asked about whether she had had a live birth in the last five years, and the month and year of the child's birth. Questions were also asked on breast-feeding, including length of time the child was breast-fed, period when breast milk was the child's only food, and age of the child when breast-feeding stopped. With respect to smoking, respondents were asked about the number of cigarettes they had smoked during their lifetime, whether they smoked last year, whether they currently smoked, and whether they smoked daily. In addition, respondents were queried about whether they had ever quit smoking for one day or more, whether they had quit smoking during the last 12 months, the number of times they had quit smoking during the last 12 months, and why they had stopped smoking.