Nutritional surveillance in Australia: a case of groping in the dark?

Nutritional surveillance means to watch over nutrition in order to make decisions and take actions to improve nutrition in populations. The information obtained through the surveillance system can be used in at least four areas--policy analysis, planning, program management and research. However, in Australia the information currently available is less than adequate for many key questions in these areas. The present state of infrequent and irregular data collection and analysis handicaps our efforts to understand the nutrition situation and to implement effective strategies to improve the nutritional health of Australians.