Data Cart

These include:

• reasons for using special diet (DITUSCOMBO, DITUSHCREC, DITUSINTER, DITUSMEDCOST, DITUSMEDFAIL)

• whether the special diet was combined with conventional treatments (DITNOCONV) DITCOUN, DITNPMED, DITPMED, DITPT, DITSURG)

Respondents who indicated that they had used a special diet to treat a specific condition were also asked to identify that condition. There are 131 variables for specific conditions that respondents could indicate were treated with special diets: 72 for adults only, 28 for children only, and 31 for both children and adults.

Sample adults only were able to indicate that they used a special diet to treat:

• excessive use of alcohol or tobacco (DITTALCTOB)

• angina (DITTANGINA)

• anxiety or depression (DITTANXDEP)

• arthritis, lupus, or fibromyalgia (DITTARTHLF)

• back pain or problem (DITTBACPAIN)

• bipolar disorder (DITTBIPOL)

• birth defect (DITTBIRTHD)

• anemia and blood disorders (DITTBLOOD)

• bowel problems and constipation (DITTBOWL)

• cataracts (DITTCATAR)

• chronic bronchitis (DITTCBRON)

• cholesterol (DITTCHOL)

• congestive heart failure (DITTCONGHF)

• coronary heart disease (DITTCORON)

• other nerve damage, including carpal tunnel syndrome (DITTCTS)

• benign tumors or cysts (DITTCYST)

• dental pain (DITTDENPAIN)

• diabetic retinopathy (DITTDIABRET)

• emphysema (DITTEMPH)

• excessive sleepiness during the day (DITTESLEEPY)

• fibromyalgia (DITTFIBRO)

• fracture, bone or joint injury (DITTFRACT)

• glaucoma (DITTGLAUC)

• gout (DITTGOUT)

• gynecologic problem (DITTGYN)

• heart attack (DITTHATT)

• hernia (DITTHERN)

• hypertension (DITTHYPER)

• inflammatory bowel disease (DITTINFB)

• stomach or intestinal illness (DITTINTEST)

• irritable bowel (DITTIRRB)

• irregular heartbeat (DITTIRRH)

• jaw pain (DITTJAWPAIN)

• joint pain or stiffness/other joint condition (DITTJNTPAIN)

• weak or failing kidneys (DITTKIDNEY)

• poor circulation in legs (DITTLCIRC)

• liver problem (DITTLIVER)

• lupus (DITTLUPUS)

• macular degeneration (DITTMACD)

• allergy to medication (DITTMALL)

• mania or psychosis (DITTMANIA)

• memory loss or loss of other cognitive function (DITTMEMLOS)

• menopause (DITTMENOP)

• missing limbs (fingers, toes or digits), amputee (DITTMLIMB)

• multiple sclerosis (DITTMSCLER)

• neck pain or problem (DITTNECPAIN)

• neuropathy (DITTNEUROP)

• circulation problems (other than in the legs) (DITTNLCIRC)

• other allergies -- adult (DITTOALLA)

• other heart condition or disease (DITTOHART)

• other infectious diseases (DITTOINF)

• other injury (DITTOINJ)

• knee problems (not arthritis, not joint injury) (DITTOKNEE)

• osteoporosis, tendinitis (DITTOSTEO)

• Parkinson's (DITTPARK)

• polio (myelitis), paralysis, para/quadriplegia (DITTPOLIO)

• prostate trouble or impotence (DITTPROST)

• recurring pain (DITTRECPAIN)

• Rheumatoid arthritis (DITTRHEUM)

• schizophrenia (DITTSCHIZO)

• senility (DITTSENILE)

• skin problems (DITTSKINA)

• sprain or strain (DITTSPRAIN)

• stress (DITTSTRESS)

• stroke (DITTSTROKE)

• substance abuse, other than alcohol or tobacco (DITTSUBST)

• thyroid problem (DITTTHYR)

• ulcer (DITTULCER)

• varicose veins, hemorrhoids (DITTVEIN)

• other (DITTOTH2, DITTOTH3)

Sample children only were able to indicate that they used a special diet to treat:

• abdominal pain (DITTABDOM)

• acne (DITTACNE)

• anemia -- children (DITTANEMC)

• back or neck pain (DITTBNPAIN)

• colitis (DITTCOLIT)

• congenital heart disease (DITTCONGHD)

• Down syndrome (DITTDOWN)

• ear infections (DITTEARINF)

• eczema or skin allergy (DITTECZEM)

• fatigue (DITTFATIG)

• fever (DITTFEVER)

• cystic fibrosis (DITTFIBROS)

• incontinence (DITTINCON)

• muscular dystrophy (DITTMUSCD)

• neurological problems (DITTNEUROL)

• other allergies -- children (DITTOALLC)

• other heart conditions -- children (DITTOHARTC)

• other chronic pain (DITTOTHPAIN)

• cerebral palsy (DITTPALSY)

• chicken pox (DITTPOX)

• respiratory allergy (DITTRALL)

• sickle cell anemia (DITTSICKL)

• other skin problems--children (DITTSKINC)

• non-strep sore throat (DITTSORET)

• stammering or stuttering (DITTSTAM)

• strep throat or tonsillitis (DITTSTREP)

• nausea or vomiting (DITTVOMIT)

• warts (DITTWART)

Both sample adults and sample children were able to indicate that they used a special diet to treat:

• Attention Deficit Disorder (DITTADD)

• anxiety (DITTANX)

• arthritis (DITTARTH)

• asthma (DITTASTH)

• autism (DITTAUT)

• cancer (DITTCANC)

• head or chest cold (DITTCOLD)

• constipation needing medication (DITTCONST)

• depression (DITTDEPRES)

• diabetes (DITTDIAB)

• allergy to food (DITTFALL)

• influenza or pneumonia (DITTFLU)

• gum disease (DITTGUM)

• hay fever (DITTHAY)

• hearing problem (DITTHEAR)

• insomnia (DITTINSOM)

• menstrual problems (DITTMENST)

• migraine or severe headache (DITTMIG)

• other developmental problem (DITTODD)

• other lung or breathing problem (DITTOLUNG)

• other musculoskeletal problem (DITTOMUSC)

• phobias (DITTPHOBIA)

• acid reflux (DITTREFLUX)

• regular headaches (DITTREGHEAD)

• mental retardation (DITTRETARD)

• seizures (DITTSEIZ)

• sinusitis (DITTSINUS)

• urinary problem (DITTURIN)

• vision problem (DITTVISION)

• weight problem (DITTWEIGHT)

• other (DITTOTH1)

The aforementioned variables indicating which conditions respondents treated via special diets provide a "yes" or "no" response for each condition. Analysts interested in the conditions that special diets were used to treat may wish to consult the following summary variables, as well:

• condition for which special diet was used most (DITTCONMOST)

• first condition for which special diet was used (DITCON1)

• degree of help from special diet, 1st condition (DITCON1HELP)

• second condition for which special diet was used (DITCON2)

• degree of help from special diet, 2nd condition (DITCON2HELP)

• third condition for which special diet was used (DITCON3)

• degree of help from special diet, 3rd condition (DITCON3HELP)

• condition count for special diet (DITCONNO)

In 2002, they were asked, "Did you use (this/these) special diet(s) to treat a specific health problem or condition?"

In 2007, they were asked, "Did you use [fill: diet used most] for a specific health problem or condition?"

For sample children, interviewers asked, "During the past 12 months, did [sample child's name] use [fill2: a Vegetarian/ a Macrobiotic/ an Atkins/ a Pritikin/ an Ornish/ a Zone/ a South Beach] diet to treat a specific health problem or condition other than weight control or weight loss?"

However, two of the questions for sample adults preceding DITTREAT in both 2002 and 2007 (DITNO and the variables for use of particular diets, DITATKINYR, DITMACYR, DITORNYR, DITPRITYR, DITSBYR, DITVEGYR, or DITZONYR) did specify the 12 month time frame. Respondents were only asked the question for DITTREAT if they indicated in DITATKINYR (or the comparable variables for other diets) that they had used a special diet during the past 12 months.

Analysts should note that use of the South Beach diet (DITSBYR) was included in the 2007 survey only.