From vitamin status to omega-3 levels and supplement use, the forthcoming CDC report turns decades of NHANES blood and urine data into a national snapshot of America’s nutritional health.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2026 Nutrition Report Presents Data for 131 Biomarkers from the Cross-Sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–August 2023). Image Credit: Lightspring / Shutterstock
A brief communication published in the journal Current Developments in Nutrition provides an overview of the 2026 “National Report on Biochemical Indicators of Diet and Nutrition in the US Population,” scheduled for release in June 2026 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The availability of such easily accessible data on national health and nutrition helps identify problems, assign priorities, frame programs, and monitor interventions for effectiveness.
The NHANES survey
The report compiles nutritional biomarker data collected through the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 1999 through August 2023, spanning nearly 24 years.
The NHANES survey is uniquely comprehensive among nutritional surveys. It collects nutritional data on food, beverage, and supplement intake in the US population, combining it with a wide array of other participant data. The information comes from health interviews, questionnaires, physical examinations, and biological samples (blood and urine), in a mobile examination center (MEC).
Scope of the 2026 report
The report presents nationally representative blood and urine measurements for up to 131 nutritional biomarkers in the United States population aged 1 year and older. Earlier CDC nutrition reports included 27 biomarkers for 1999 to 2002 and 58 biomarkers for 2003 to 2006. In comparison, fifty biomarkers were available for the August 2021 to August 2023 survey cycle alone.
The biomarkers cover a broad range of nutritional and dietary indicators, including water-soluble and fat-soluble vitamins and related compounds, trace elements, and bioactive compounds.
Newly reported biomarkers
The report covers several newly reported biomarkers including vitamin B12 status (combined indicator cB-12, comprising vitamin B-12, methylmalonic acid, and total homocysteine); heart health (omega-3 index, derived by summing eicosapentaenoic acid and docosahexaenoic acid as a percentage of total fatty acids in red cells); trace elements copper and zinc in blood; 4 trans-fatty acids separately and in total; 6 serum folate forms; 6 red cell folate forms separately and in total; 15 caffeine and caffeine metabolites; and 21 RBC fatty acids.
Summary trends
The report itself contains more than 2700 tables and 500 figures that summarize long-term distributions of nutritional biomarkers and demographic patterns across the US population. A major feature of the 2026 report is the presentation of trends across nearly 24 years of data.
It visually summarizes three types of statistics: percentile concentration trends over time by cycle; reference interval estimates based on percentile values at either end of the spectrum; and stratified concentrations by age, sex, race, and Hispanic origin.
For the first time, the report also shows concentrations for supplement users and nonusers separately, recognizing the importance of supplement use in determining nutritional status.
The uniqueness of NHANES data
The paper highlights NHANES as one of the world’s most durable and comprehensive national nutrition surveillance systems. The authors note that relatively few countries conduct national nutrition surveys as part of health assessment.
When biochemical testing is incorporated into such surveys, the focus is primarily on disease markers such as glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and lipid levels. In contrast, the NHANES survey includes multiple biochemical measurements of nutrition-related biomarkers.
The design and scope of the NHANES make it a source of what the authors describe as “gold standard scientific data,” particularly valuable for guideline development, and for data science research validation. In addition to the broad array of nutritional biomarkers, it links them to sociodemographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, medical history, and physical examination data, allowing for the identification of multiple associations.
Utility of the report
This report compiles nearly 24 years of NHANES data into a user-friendly format that enables nutritional status to be seen at a glance. It is descriptive, without further analysis or adjustment, providing information that can be processed in multiple ways.
According to the authors, the report is intended to provide policymakers, clinicians, and researchers with accessible reference information. The standardized tables and figures allow comparisons of biomarkers across demographic groups, biomarkers, and time periods.
This can help identify where new interventions may be needed and help track the effectiveness of ongoing programs and policies. It can help clinicians develop or interpret national reference intervals for these biomarkers, while recognizing that the report provides descriptive, unadjusted population data. It helps scientists explore the associations between nutritional status and health, lifestyle, and behavior.
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Journal reference:
- Pfeiffer, C. M., Sternberg, M. R., Powers, C. D., et al. (2026). Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s 2026 Nutrition Report Presents Data for 131 Biomarkers from the Cross-Sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1999–August 2023). Current Developments in Nutrition. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdnut.2026.107688.
