NCCOR's Catalogue of Surveillance Systems

Introduction: NCCOR's Catalogue of Surveillance Systems provides the only known online catalogue of existing US surveillance systems containing data relevant to childhood obesity research. It includes local, state, and national-level systems, providing data at multiple levels of the social-ecological model. Methods: Systems were gathered by reviewing existing reports of available systems and soliciting expert review and suggestions. They were chosen for the catalogue because they are relevant to childhood obesity, conducted in the US, publicly available, and provide downloadable data. Some systems have been in operation for many years; others are relatively new. All, however, contain data pertaining to the past 10 years. Results/Findings: Seventy-six surveillance systems were chosen for inclusion in the initial version of the Catalogue. Detailed profiles were developed for each of these systems and the information reviewed by relevant experts. System profiles include information on sampling, key variables, data access and cost, geocode/linkage, selected publications, resources related to the system, and other key information. Using the catalog, it is possible to identify surveillance systems to meet research needs, compare attributes across systems, find more information on individual systems, and link to other surveillance-related resources of interest. Conclusions: NCCOR's Catalogue of Surveillance Systems is intended to be a valuable resource for researchers, and advance research and knowledge related to childhood obesity.