RECENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT THE MEXICAN HISPANIC POPU- LATION IN THE UNITED STATES IS AT HIGH RISK FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE, DIABETES MELLITUS, AND SOME SITE-SPECIFIC FORMS OF CANCER.

RECENT INFORMATION SUGGESTS THAT THE MEXICAN HISPANIC POPU- LATION IN THE UNITED STATES IS AT HIGH RISK FOR CORONARY HEART DISEASE, DIABETES MELLITUS, AND SOME SITE-SPECIFIC FORMS OF CANCER. OTHER DATA INDICATE THAT SOCIOCULTURAL FACTORS MAY PLAY A PRIMARY ROLE IN DETERMINING THE HEALTH STATUS OF THIS POPULATION. THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTORS IMPLICATED ARE DIET-RELATED KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDES, AND BEHAVIORS, AND UTILIZATION OF MEDICAL SERVICES. THE PRO- POSED PHASE I STUDY WILL DEVELOP AND PRETEST AN INTEGRATED SET OF SURVEY AND UNOBTRUSIVE INSTRUMENTS AND PROCEDURES TO MEASURE AND MONITOR DIETARY KNOWLEDGE, AND BEHAVIORS, AND OTHER IMPORTANT PREVENTATIVE HEALTH BEHAVIORS IN THE MEXICANHISPANIC POPULATION. THE RESULTING PRODUCT WILL BE DESIGNEDFOR BROAD, COST-EFFECTIVE, COMMERCIAL APPLICATION WITHIN THIS INCREASINGLY SIGNIFICANT SEGMENT OF THE AMERICAN POPU- LATION. IT WILL HAVE PARTICULAR APPLICATION FOR THE DESIGN,BASELINE ASSESSMENT, IMPLEMENTATION, AND LONGTITUDINAL EVAL-UATION OF HEALTH INTERVENTION PROJECTS WITHIN THIS GROUP. PROPOSED PHASE II RESEARCH WILL APPLY THESE INSTRUMENTS ON ACOMMUNITY-LEVEL SAMPLE OF THE MEXICAN HISPANIC POPULATION INTHE CONTEXT OF A RANDOMIZED INTERVENTION FOR DIET MODIFICA- TION.