Trailers have been set up in the parking lot of the Piankatank Ruritan Club at Hudgins and an office is opening today on Court Street in downtown Mathews for the upcoming National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

This comprehensive annual study of the health and nutritional status of the U.S. population will begin in Mathews on Sept. 10 and continue through Nov. 2, said Nora Martinello, senior study manager with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

According to a brochure, the first phase of the study will consist of in-home interviews of nearly 1,300 randomly-selected Mathews residents. Then, from those interviewed, 464 people will be picked by computer to receive free medical examinations over a three-day period in late September in the specially-equipped trailers at the Piankatank Ruritan Club.

Some residents are expected to decline the examination, so the survey expects to end up with a sampling of around 361 participants.

The purpose of the survey is ...