The Cebu longitudinal health and nutrition survey: two decades later.

This article discusses the 23-year history of the Cebu Longitudinal Health and Nutrition Survey (CLHNS) which was started in 1983 in collaboration with the Carolina Population Center of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (CPC-UNC) the Office of Population Studies of the University of San Carlos (OPS-USC) and the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP). After briefly presenting information on its origins and development in this introductory section the methodologies and strategies used in the research and some of its major findings and contributions are discussed before analyzing the challenges and lessons learned from the study. The article ends by identifying some best practices and offering some recommendations for other longitudinal studies.