Esteban offers a twofold benefit for healthcare professionals.

It is both a source of new epidemiological knowledge and an opportunity to discuss a health checkup with patients participating in the study.

The launch of this new study is part of several public health initiatives at the national and international levels and is intended to help meet the objectives of various national public health plans, laws, or European initiatives in which the InVS participates:

The National Biomonitoring Strategy

The national biosurveillance strategy was established as part of the National Health and Environment Plan (PNSE-2) (resulting from the Grenelle Environment Forum). It was developed between May 2009 and March 2010 by a Steering Committee chaired by the InVS and comprising representatives from the Ministry of Health (Directorate General of Health—DGS), the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development, Transport, and Housing (Directorate General for Risk Prevention—DGPR), the Ministry of Labor (Directorate General for Labor -DGT-), the French Agency for Food Safety (Afssa), and the French Agency for Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Afsset) (now Anses). The biomonitoring component of this study will enable the description and monitoring of exposure levels among the population residing in France for approximately one hundred substances selected based on their presumed and/or observed impact on health. Its methodology should align as closely as possible with the European Consortium for Population-based Health Surveillance (COPHES) project.

The National Nutritional Surveillance System

The national nutritional surveillance system, entrusted to the InVS, was established as part of the first National Nutrition and Health Program (PNNS) 2001–2005, whose objective was to improve the health status of the population by addressing one of its major determinants: nutrition. It led to the implementation, in 2006–2007, of the National Nutrition and Health Study (ENNS), and the nutritional component of this new study builds upon that work. This new study is intended to meet the requirements of PNNS-3 (2011–2015), the 2010–2013 Obesity Plan, and the future Public Health Act regarding the description and monitoring of dietary intake, physical activity and sedentary behavior, and markers of nutritional status (underweight, obesity, iron and vitamin status) of the population residing in France, and provide insights into the achievement of the objectives set by the PNNS.

Chronic Disease Surveillance

The chronic disease surveillance component is partly part of the monitoring framework of the 2004 Public Health Act and the future Public Health Act. It focuses on monitoring certain chronic diseases such as diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, food and respiratory allergies, and chronic kidney disease, as well as certain vascular risk factors (hypertension, dyslipidemia). It will also enable the monitoring of indicators that were previously collected during the 2006–2007 ENNS study. It must also meet the requirements of the European Health Examination Survey (EHES), which is expected to be implemented across all European Union member states by 2015.

The value of combining multiple public health themes

These monitoring objectives are synergistic: the role of diet as a source of exposure to environmental contaminants, the role of nutrition as a risk factor for the onset of chronic diseases (cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, etc.), and the existence of associations between exposure to certain environmental contaminants and certain chronic diseases. Furthermore, the technical feasibility of such a study combining these three objectives was demonstrated during the implementation of the ENNS 2006-2007 study.