A health and nutrition survey of a sampling of Mathews County residents is well underway.

Larry Dobbins, study manager for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s local National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, said that around 475 people in Mathews have been or are being randomly chosen to participate in the survey, and as of Tuesday, about half of them had already completed their examinations.

The examination portion of the survey began on Sept. 30 and will come to a close on Nov. 2.

"We’ve had a good response from those who were notified they were eligible," said Dobbins. "People are scheduling appointments and keeping appointments."

Inside the white National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey trailers parked at the Piankatank Ruritan Club in Hudgins, people of all ages are being weighed, measured and examined from head to toe, five days a week.

A doctor takes a series of blood pressure measurements that will eventually be use...