Federal nutrition group arrives in Mat-Su

June 24, 2005

DAWN DE BUSK/Frontiersman reporter

MAT-SU - Some Valley residents may be surprised to hear for the first time about a nutritional survey when interviewers start knocking on 2,148 doors, starting Tuesday.

"A lot of people don't have a physical address to send mail to. So people couldn't get the advance notification," Nora Martinello, a Centers for Disease Control study manager, said Thursday.

To offset this rural phenomenon, Martinello will be doing several local radio interviews, explaining how the Mat-Su Borough has been selected to take part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Conducted by CDC each year, 15 counties or boroughs and 7,000 households are randomly selected to participate in a quick demographic survey. From there, a smaller percentage of people is chosen, based on those demographics.

Those individuals will answer health-related questions, and be asked to schedule an appointment at an NHANES mobile exam unit. These high-tech vans will be parked at 3223 E. Palmer-Wasilla Hwy. for the duration of the nine-week program, she said.

The data are designed to help make legislative decisions regarding American's health as well as assisting with federal health programs.

Starting Tuesday, 11 field interviewers will be stepping onto people's yards with a list of questions, government identification proving they work for the CDC, and a letter of endorsement from Mat-Su Borough Manager John Duffy, Martinello said.

Martinello, who arrived in the Valley Wednesday, stressed the importance of making residents feel at ease, from the time interviewers knock on the door to when the participant shows up for the non-invasive exam. She wants to be sure members of her interview team feel comfortable, too.

"We've heard a lot of people have dogs to keep away the moose," she said.

The initial screening only takes five to 10 minutes. Residents will be asked about their household size, ages, genders, race and ethnicity (family origin) and income.

"All pregnant women will automatically qualify. We need their critical data," she said.

Any active military personnel will be dropped, she said. Out of the 2,148 people in the borough, 460 individuals will be asked to complete a questionnaire and schedule an appointment at the mobile exam unit. Once each person follows through with the exam, he or she will receive up to $100 and a medical report.

"They don't see a penny until they finish the exam," Martinello said.

Twelve to 16 weeks later, another medical finding worth about $3,000 in exams arrives in the mail.

"We encourage people to share the results with their physician," she said.

After the demographics inquiries, selected residents will be given the option to answer an hour-long questionnaire immediately or schedule it for another time.

At the exam center, participants provide a dietary recall of the past 24 hours, get weighed and measured and walk on a treadmill to get their heart rate. There will be two eye exams, a hearing test and a bone-density scan.

Martinello reminded people that this isn't a volunteer program, only selected individuals may take part.

"Each person represents 25,000 (U.S. residents) of their age, gender and ethnicity," she said. "If one person chooses not to participate, we lose the data of 25,000 people."

Contact Dawn De Busk at 352-2252, or dawn.debusk@frontiersman.com.