Name two public health surveillance systems and their purposes.

• A. BRFSS — collects health-risk behaviors; NHANES — assesses health and nutrition status.
• B. BRFSS — disease incidence tracking; NHANES — environmental exposure monitoring.
• C. BRFSS — hospital admissions data; NHANES — vaccination coverage.
• D. BRFSS — health insurance data; NHANES — dental health indicators.

Answer: (A)

The main concept is how public health surveillance uses specific systems to monitor different aspects of population health. BRFSS is a state-based telephone survey that collects information on health-related risk behaviors, preventive practices, and chronic conditions. Its purpose is to track trends in behaviors and risk factors over time so public health programs can target interventions and shape policy.

NHANES combines interviews with physical examinations and laboratory tests to assess the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population. It provides objective data on dietary intake, nutrition biomarkers, and the prevalence of diseases, giving a snapshot of overall health and nutrition at the population level.

Together, these systems illustrate how surveillance covers both behavioral factors and clinical health status. The other pairings misstate the roles—for example, BRFSS is not primarily about disease incidence tracking or hospital admissions data, and NHANES is not mainly environmental exposure monitoring, vaccination coverage, or dental health indicators.