Survey Objectives

The objective of the Eating and Health (EH) Module of the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) is to collect data to analyze the relationships among time use patterns and eating patterns, nutrition, and obesity; food and nutrition assistance programs; and grocery shopping and meal preparation.

One of the missions of USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) is to enhance the understanding of economic issues related to the nutrition and health of the U.S. population. Data collection and research on eating patterns, Body Mass Index (BMI), food and nutrition assistance program participation, program income eligibility, grocery shopping, and meal preparation all contribute to this goal. Specifically, the economic analysis of decisions made under constraints-in this case, time-provides insight for both policies and programs because the decisions individuals make on how to use their 24 hours in a day have short- and long-run implications for income and earnings, health, and other aspects of well-being.

The Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), ERS's funding partner, has a long history of research and surveillance activities concerning health behaviors, such as diet, weight, and physical activity, that are linked to multiple health outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and stroke. Recent evidence indicates that obesity and sedentary behavior are risk factors for cancer. 

Much of NCI's research has been based on data obtained from standardized health surveys, such as the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). It is difficult or impossible to use such data to explore the social and environmental context of various health behaviors or to explore tradeoffs associated with time limitations and adopting healthful diets or adding physical activity. Time use survey data, however, enable researchers to investigate these and other areas. NCI's objective in providing support for the Eating and Health Module of the American Time Use Survey is to obtain further information on the temporal, economic, social, and environmental correlates of selected health behaviors. This information will help inform efforts to design effective interventions to improve health behaviors at the individual and population levels.

Return to Overview

Module questions

The EH Module asks ATUS respondents about secondary eating and drinking; grocery shopping and meal preparation; Food Stamp Program participation; breakfast and lunch obtained at school; general health, height, and weight; and income. A short version of the Module questions is available. A text version of the EH Module survey instrument is also available from the BLS website.

Module microdata

Each year of the Module microdata has four files that can be downloaded from the BLS website.

EH Respondent file

The EH Respondent file contains information on EH respondents, including variables about grocery shopping, meal preparation, food stamp participation, general health, height and weight, and household income.

EH Activity file

The EH Activity file contains information on respondents' secondary eating and secondary drinking beverages.

EH Child file

The EH Child file contains information about which household children (< age 19) ate a breakfast or lunch in the previous week that was prepared and served at a school, day care center, Head Start center, or summer day program.

EH Replicate Weights file

The EH Replicate Weights file contains the replicate weights that can be used to calculate standard errors and variances for EH Module estimates.

Module data dictionary

The data dictionary lists all the variables available on the four microdata files, and their valid values.

Methodology

Estimation of Total Time Spent Eating and Drinking

The American Time Use Survey (ATUS) asks respondents to report only their primary (main) activities in their diary, with the exception of simultaneous child care. The Eating & Health Module of the ATUS asks respondents about secondary eating and secondary drinking beverages, that is, eating and/or drinking beverages while engaged in another activity the respondent considers primary, such as watching television or driving.

Survey Questions

The Module asks the respondent:

Yesterday, you reported eating or drinking between [Fill: times from diary].

Were there any other times you were eating any meals or snacks yesterday, for example, while you were doing something else?

If the respondent answers "Yes," then the interviewer asks, During which activities? and Were you eating the entire time you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

If the respondent does not report eating during the entire activity, then the respondent is asked,About how long would you say you were eating while you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?

The respondent is then asked:

Not including plain water, were there any other times yesterday when you were drinking any beverages? [*If necessary, the interviewer reads: 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.] During which activities?

Were you drinking the entire time you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?If the respondent does not report drinking during the entire activity, then the respondent is asked:

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

A common response to the secondary drinking question is something like, "I had a cup of coffee on my desk all day at work." The guidance given to interviewers is to ask, "How much time were you actively drinking coffee?"

As these data are collected, primary eating is exclusive of secondary eating and secondary drinking. There is no overlap in time between the primary and secondary activities.

Before discussing estimation techniques for total time spent on secondary eating and drinking, it is instructive to examine characteristics of the data and components of eating and drinking.

Characteristics of Primary Eating and Drinking Data

Primary eating and drinking per person on an average day in 2006 was as follows:

Count/estimate	Engaged in primary eating/drinking	Percent of population	No primary eating or drinking	Percent of population	Total
Respondents 15+ (count)	12,391	96.12	500	3.88	12,891
Persons 15+ (weighted)	224.1 million	96.13	9.02 million	3.87	233.12 million
Source: 2006 EH Respondent file.

Ninety-six percent of Americans age 15 or older engaged in primary eating and drinking at some time on an average day. Eating/drinking occurrences constitute about 10 percent of all activities. (This is by occurrence, and not weighted by time spent in the activity.) This averages to 2.03 primary eating/drinking occurrences per respondent, and an estimated 2.06 occurrences on an average day across the U.S. population age 15 and older.

Characteristics of Secondary Eating and Secondary Drinking Data

Secondary eating and drinking per person on an average day in 2006 was as follows:

Count/estimate	Secondary eating only	Secondary drinking only	Both	Neither	Total
Respondents 15+ (count)	2,417 18.75 percent	167 1.30 percent	4,317 33.49 percent	5,990 46.47 percent	12,891 100.00 percent
Persons 15+ (weighted)	44.36 million 19.03 percent	3.26 million 1.40 percent	76.99 million 33.02 percent	108.52 million 46.55 percent	233.12 million 100.00 percent
Source: 2006 EH Respondent file.

Note that the data used in the above table are summary variables over the entire day. So, the 33 percent who reported both secondary eating and secondary drinking may or may not have engaged in secondary eating and secondary drinking during the same primary activity. Time diaries reveal information about secondary eating and secondary drinking occurrences.

Occurrences during all primary activities on an average day were as follows:

Count/estimate	Secondary eating only	Secondary drinking only	Both	Neither	Total
Respondents 15+ (count)	6,438 2.45 percent	6,165 2.34 percent	3,253 1.24 percent	247,430 93.98 percent	263,286 100.00 percent
Persons 15+ (weighted)	114.38 million 2.45 percent	113.6 million 2.43 percent	57.55 million 1.23 percent	4,390.8 million 93.89 percent	4,676.3 million 100.00 percent
Source: 2006 ATUS Activity file and EH Respondent and Activity files.

Secondary eating and/or secondary drinking occurred during about 6 percent of all activities. There were 1.2 secondary eating/drinking occurrences per person on an average day.

Only primary activities with secondary eating and/or secondary drinking were as follows:

Count/estimate	Secondary eating only	Secondary drinking only	Both	Total
Respondents 15+ (count)	6,438 40.60 percent	6,165 38.88 percent	3,253 20.52 percent	15,856 100.00 percent
Persons 15+ (weighted)	114.38 million 40.06 percent	113.6 million 39.79 percent	57.55 million 20.15 percent	285.53 million 100.00 percent
Source: 2006 ATUS Activity file and EH Activity file.

So, only 20 percent of secondary eating and secondary drinking occurrences had both secondary eating and secondary drinking.

Duration of secondary eating and secondary drinking was as follows:

		Mean minutes	Minimum minutes	Maximum minutes	Mode minutes	Mode percent
Secondary eating	Respondents 15+ (unweighted) Population 15+ (weighted)	21.38 21.47	1 1	975 975	10 10	22.61 percent 22.21 percent
Secondary drinking	Respondents 15+ (unweighted) Population 15+ (weighted)	56.39 57.34	1 1	1165 1165	10 10	12.75 percent 12.12 percent
Source: 2006 ATUS Activity file and EH Activity file.

If a respondent reports both secondary eating and secondary drinking, it is not known whether both activities happened at the same time. Consequently, estimating total time spent on secondary eating and drinking is not a simple sum. However, the fact that only 20 percent of primary activities with secondary eating or secondary drinking had both, and the fact that the means and modes of these two variables were relatively small allowed for considering a method of estimating total time spent on secondary eating and secondary drinking.

Estimating Total Time on Secondary Eating and Drinking

ERS's methodology for estimating total time spent on secondary eating and drinking is illustrated in the following example. A respondent spent 5 minutes engaged in secondary eating (EUEDUR24) and 15 minutes engaged in secondary drinking (EUDDUR24) while doing paid work between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. (4 hours). It is not known if there was any overlap of the 5 minutes of eating with the 15 minutes of drinking, only that both happened during paid work time from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Later in the day, the respondent spent 2 hours watching television from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and reported engaging in secondary eating and secondary drinking the entire 2 hours (120 minutes).

EUEDUR24 (amount of time spent in secondary eating) and EUDDUR24 (amount of time spent in secondary drinking) cannot be totaled into a simple sum because first, it is not known if there is overlap, and second, adding the two time durations may result in more time than the total length of the activity. In the example, adding 120 minutes of secondary eating with 120 minutes of secondary drinking during the time the respondent watched television would result in more than 2 hours and could result in a day more than 24 hours long.

To estimate the total time spent on secondary eating and secondary drinking, ERS first estimated a minimum and maximum value where the minimum value assumes that secondary eating and secondary drinking occur at the same time, that is, with full overlap. The maximum value assumes no overlap of the two activities, or as little overlap as possible, but the duration is not longer than the primary activity.

Returning to the example in which the respondent engaged in secondary eating and secondary drinking during 4 hours of paid work, the minimum time (all overlap) is 15 minutes and the maximum is 20 minutes (the sum of secondary eating and secondary drinking). This calculation is straightforward as both 15 minutes and 20 minutes are less than the duration of the primary activity (4 hours). For the activity of watching television, the duration of the primary activity constrains both the minimum and maximum to 120 minutes (2 hours).

The following table provides estimates for the minimum and maximum of secondary eating and secondary drinking times:

Minutes in:	Mean per day, population 15+	Mean per day, participants only
Secondary eating	15.75	30.36
Secondary drinking	41.75	122.23
Both-minimum	51.99	97.54
Both-maximum	53.72	100.79
Midpoint of minimum and maximum	52.86	99.17
Source: 2006 EH Respondent file, EH Activity file, and ATUS Activity file.

Note that estimates are both for the entire population age 15 and older and for participants only (those who engaged in secondary eating or secondary drinking). Population estimates include those who do not engage in secondary eating and drinking, so there are zeros added into the calculation, whereas the participants-only mean is calculated without zeros.

The minimum and maximum estimates are close-a 1.7-minute difference for the population and a 3.2-minute difference for participants. ERS looked at standard errors and calculated the 90-percent confidence interval for each estimate as a consideration in using the midpoint of the minimum and maximum as the estimate of the total time:

	Mean (minutes), population	Standard error	90 percent confidence interval (+/-)	Range (minutes)	Mean (minutes), participants	Standard error	90 percent confidence interval (+/-)	Range (minutes)
Secondary eating	15.75	0.6340	1.04	14.71-16.79	30.36	1.1830	1.95	28.41-32.31
Secondary drinking	41.75	1.5501	2.55	39.20-44.30	122.23	3.9863	6.56	115.67-118.79
Both-MIN	51.99	1.6202	2.66	49.33-54.65	97.54	2.7850	4.58	92.96-102.12
Both-MAX	53.72	1.6203	2.66	51.06-56.38	100.79	2.7725	4.56	96.23-105.35
Midpoint of minimum and maximum	52.86	1.6199	2.66	50.20-55.52	99.17	2.7781	4.57	94.60-103.74
Source: 2006 EH Respondent file, EH Activity file, and EH Replicate Weights file.

The minimum and maximum estimates of total time are not statistically different at the 90-percent confidence level. This is true for both population estimates and participant estimates. For the present analysis, the midpoint was used to estimate total time spent on secondary eating/drinking.

The ERS estimate of total time spent on secondary eating and secondary drinking is then the midpoint of the minimum and maximum values presented above.

Programming Notes--Estimating Total Time in Secondary Eating and Drinking Activities

Based on the methodology, estimates were programmed in SAS 9.1, using the ATUS Activity file and the EH Activity file data. The minimum, maximum, and midpoint values for secondary eating/drinking were determined in the following manner.

Data files needed:

2006 ATUS Activity file and 2006 EH Activity file. These files can be linked by the variables TUCASEID and TUACTIVITY_N.

Variables needed:

On 2006 ATUS Activity file and 2006 EH Activity file:

TUCASEID = case identifier, used to link files

TUACTIVITY_N = line number of the activity number, used to link files

On 2006 ATUS Activity file:

TUACTDUR24 = activity duration in minutes, truncated to a 24-hour day

On 2006 EH Activity file:

EUEATSUM = secondary eating identifier

EUDRKSUM = secondary drinking identifier

EUEDUR24 = secondary eating duration in minutes, truncated to a 24-hour day

EUDDUR24 = secondary drinking duration in minutes, truncated to a 24-hour day

Steps

1) Merge ATUS Activity and EH Activity files by TUCASEID and TUACTIVITY_N

2) Restrict merged file to secondary activities where EUEATSUM=1 OR EUDRKSUM=1

3) Create two new variables to represent the minimum and maximum values for secondary eating/drinking: ersecmin and ersecmax, respectively. Define ersecmin and ersecmax according to these conditions:

a) If (EUEDUR24>0 AND EUDDUR24=-1) then ersecmin=ersecmax=EUEDUR24.
In activities where there is some secondary eating and no secondary drinking, the minimum and maximum secondary eating/drinking values are equal to the amount of time spent on secondary eating.

b) If (EUEDUR24=-1 and EUDDUR24>0 and) then ersecmin=ersecmax =EUDDUR24.
In activities where there is some secondary drinking and no secondary eating, the minimum and maximum secondary eating/drinking values are equal to the amount of time spent on secondary drinking.

c) If EUEDUR24>0 AND EUDDUR24>0, then

i) ersecmin= Max(EUEDUR24, EUDDUR24)
The minimum value for secondary eating and drinking is the larger of the two values, EUEDUR24 and EUDDUR24.

ii) ersecmax=EUEDUR24+EUDDUR24
The maximum value for secondary eating/drinking is the sum of EUEDUR24 and EUDDUR24.

iii) If TUACTDUR24 < ersecmax then ersecmax = TUACTDUR24.
The maximum value for secondary eating/drinking cannot be greater than the total duration of the primary activity.

4) Using the values of ersecmin and ersecmax, create a third variable ersecmid, defined as the midpoint value of secondary eating and drinking.

ersecmid=(ersecmin+ersecmax)/2.

The midpoint value of secondary eating/drinking is the sum of the minimum and maximum values of secondary eating/drinking divided by two. ERS uses the SAS ROUND function to produce an integer value. Using the SAS INT function (for truncation) may result in a situation where secondary eating/drinking starts before the primary activity's start time.

5) Check the values of ersecmin and ersecmax.

a) Confirm that ersecmin is less than or equal to ersecmax.

b) Verify that erssecmid is greater than or equal to ersecmin and erssecmid is less than or equal to erssecmax.

Total Time Spent in Eating and Drinking Activities

In order to estimate the total time spent in eating and drinking activities on an average day, ERS added the mean time spent on primary eating and drinking, the mean time spent on associated activities (waiting associated with eating/drinking and travel related to eating/drinking), and the midpoint of the minimum and maximum of the total time spent on secondary eating and secondary drinking. See the EH Module Users Guide for a discussion on the detailed activities included in primary eating and drinking and in associated activities.

Average minutes per day, population age 15+:	Total	Men	Women
Primary eating and drinking	66.87	67.80	66.00
Associated activities	7.44	7.73	7.16
Total secondary eating and secondary drinking	52.86	51.94	53.72
Total time	127.17	127.47	126.88
Source: 2006 EH Respondent file, EH Activity file, and ATUS Roster file.

Consideration was given to whether it would be conceptually appropriate to sum primary eating and drinking time with secondary eating and secondary drinking time. One may argue that primary and secondary activities are fundamentally different in intensity and so cannot be combined. In making this decision, the following points were considered:

• The primary eating and drinking times and the secondary eating and secondary drinking times are all time durations only. Nothing is known about calories consumed nor about intensity of the activities. Research using this data will determine whether or not there are relationships between primary eating/drinking time, secondary eating time, secondary drinking time, and BMI.
• The focus is on eating and drinking activities and not analysis of all activities over the course of a day.

To analyze the constraints of a 24-hour day, however, only primary activities should be used, as summing primary and secondary activities would result in a day greater than 24 hours. So, the appropriateness of using a total time in eating/drinking activities depends on the application.

Looking at the data, it can be seen that respondents appear to be conscientious in their reporting of secondary eating and drinking times:

Secondary eating occurrences:

Minutes	Mean time	Mean time, primary activity	Secondary eating as percent of primary time
Respondents 15+ (unweighted)	21.38	146.86	13.54
Population 15+ (weighted)	21.47	153.93	13.46
Source: 2006 ATUS Activity file, EH Respondent file, and EH Activity file.

Secondary drinking occurrences:

Minutes	Mean time	Mean time, primary activity	Secondary drinking as percent of primary time
Respondents 15+ (unweighted)	56.39	121.12	52.22
Population 15+(weighted)	57.34	125.22	52.65
Source: 2006 ATUS Activity file and EH Activity file.

Only 13.5 percent of secondary eating occurrences were reported as being for the entire time of the primary activity. Slightly over half, 52 percent, of secondary drinking occurrences were reported as being for the entire time of the primary activity. In both cases, the mean times of the primary activities are considerably larger than the mean times of secondary eating and secondary drinking.

Certainly, the quickest way out of the questionWere you eating the entire time you were [fill: ACTIVITY]?would be to respond "yes." By just looking at the data it appears that respondents are trying to be accurate and are putting thought into their reported actual time spent on secondary eating and in secondary drinking. And, a response of "yes" for the entire time of primary activity is a valid response. Because the EH Module asks respondents the duration of the secondary activity, no adjustments are made to the secondary eating and secondary drinking time durations.

No survey or data collection effort is perfect, however, the ATUS and the EH Module are obtaining the only nationally representative time use survey containing estimates on primary and secondary eating. For applications analyzing eating patterns, ERS concludes that estimating a total time of secondary eating and drinking and a total time in all eating and drinking is appropriate. These methods have been subjected to outside review, and ERS will continue to review and refine the methodology.

Documentation Table-Time spent in eating and drinking activities and percent of civilian population age 15 and older engaged in each activity, averages per day, 2006 annual averages
	Average minutes per day, civilian population (minutes)			Average percentage engaged in activity per day (percent)			Average minutes per day, for persons who engaged in the activity (minutes)
	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Total time in primary eating and drinking	66.87	67.80	66.00	96.13	96.11	96.15	69.56	70.54	68.64
Total time in associated activities	7.44	7.73	7.16	25.98	27.05	24.96	28.64	28.58	28.70
Secondary eating	15.75	16.10	15.42	51.87	47.95	55.56	30.36	33.57	27.76
Secondary drinking	41.75	40.84	42.61	34.16	31.77	36.41	122.23	128.54	117.06
Range of total secondary eating plus drinking
Secondary eating and drinking (minimum)	51.99	51.12	52.80	53.30	49.45	56.92	97.54	103.39	92.77
Secondary eating and drinking (maximum)	53.72	52.76	54.62	53.30	49.45	56.92	100.79	106.71	95.96
Mid-point of minimum and maximum	52.86	51.94	53.72	53.30	49.45	56.92	99.17	105.05	94.37
Total time in all eating and drinking activities	127.17	127.47	126.88	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
NA =Not applicable. Note: A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Included in primary eating and drinking are codes 110101 and 110199 for eating and drinking, code 119999 for eating and drinking, not elsewhere classified, and code 050202 for eating and drinking as part of job. Associated activities are travel times related to eating and drinking (codes 181101 and 181199) and waiting associated with eating and drinking (codes 110201 and 110299). Associated activities are included in estimates of time spent in eating and drinking to be consistent with BLS estimation methodology. Secondary eating and drinking minimum assumes all overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity, but secondary eating and drinking maximum assumes no overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity. Data refer to persons 15 years or older. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey and ERS Eating and Health Module.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documentation Table-Time spent in eating and drinking activities and percent of civilian population age 15 and older engaged in each activity, averages per day, 2007 annual averages
	Average minutes per day, civilian population (minutes)			Average percentage engaged in activity per day (percent)			Average minutes per day, for persons who engaged in the activity (minutes)
	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Total time in primary eating and drinking	66.83	68.35	65.40	95.46	95.79	95.14	70.01	71.36	68.74
Total time in associated activities	7.52	8.21	6.87	25.77	27.36	24.28	29.17	30.02	28.28
Secondary eating	26.42	26.82	26.05	53.36	49.06	57.40	49.52	54.66	45.39
Secondary drinking	66.15	61.17	70.84	35.98	33.40	38.41	183.86	183.12	184.46
Range of total secondary eating plus drinking
Secondary eating and drinking (minimum)	81.48	77.60	85.14	54.72	50.33	58.86	148.90	154.20	144.64
Secondary eating and drinking (maximum)	83.34	79.37	87.07	54.72	50.33	58.86	152.29	157.71	147.92
Mid-point of minimum and maximum	82.41	78.49	86.10	54.72	50.33	58.86	150.60	155.96	146.28
Total time in all eating and drinking activities	156.76	155.05	158.37	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
NA=Not applicable. Note: A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Included in primary eating and drinking are codes 110101 and 110199 for eating and drinking, code 119999 for eating and drinking, not elsewhere classified, and code 050202 for eating and drinking as part of job. Associated activities are travel times related to eating and drinking (codes 181101 and 181199) and waiting associated with eating and drinking (codes 110201 and 110299). Associated activities are included in estimates of time spent in eating and drinking to be consistent with BLS estimation methodology. Secondary eating and drinking minimum assumes all overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity, but secondary eating and drinking maximum assumes no overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity. Data refer to persons 15 years or older. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey and ERS Eating and Health Module.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Documentation Table-Time spent in eating and drinking activities and percent of civilian population age 15 and older engaged in each activity, averages per day, 2008 annual averages
	Average minutes per day, civilian population (minutes)			Average percentage engaged in activity per day (percent)			Average minutes per day, for persons who engaged in the activity (minutes)
	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women	Total	Men	Women
Total time in primary eating and drinking	66.94	69.75	64.30	96.10	96.59	95.64	69.66	72.22	67.23
Total time in associated activities	7.23	7.83	6.67	25.09	27.35	22.96	28.82	28.62	29.05
Secondary eating	28.12	25.32	30.75	52.16	48.26	55.83	53.90	52.47	55.07
Secondary drinking	81.01	74.85	86.80	35.90	33.93	37.76	225.62	220.58	229.89
Range of total secondary eating plus drinking
Secondary eating and drinking (minimum)	96.48	88.78	103.72	53.70	49.93	57.24	179.68	177.80	181.21
Secondary eating and drinking (maximum)	98.16	90.53	105.33	53.70	49.93	57.24	182.80	181.30	184.02
Mid-point of minimum and maximum	97.32	89.66	104.53	53.70	49.93	57.24	181.24	179.55	182.62
Total time in all eating and drinking activities	171.49	167.24	175.50	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA	NA
NA = Not applicable. Note: A primary activity refers to an individual's main activity. Included in primary eating and drinking are codes 110101 and 110199 for eating and drinking, code 119999 for eating and drinking, not elsewhere classified, and code 050202 for eating and drinking as part of job. Associated activities are travel times related to eating and drinking (codes 181101 and 181199) and waiting associated with eating and drinking (codes 110201 and 110299). Associated activities are included in estimates of time spent in eating and drinking to be consistent with BLS estimation methodology. Secondary eating and drinking minimum assumes all overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity, but secondary eating and drinking maximum assumes no overlap of secondary eating and drinking if both occur during a primary activity. Data refer to persons 15 years or older. Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics American Time Use Survey and ERS Eating and Health Module.

Last updated: Thursday, July 05, 2012

For more information contact: Karen Hamrick