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Ed Yeates reporting Physicians and technicians inside large trailers are moving throughout the country again, trying to find out how well or sick we really are as a nation.
The portable CDC research lab is stationed in Salt Lake right now, sampling almost 400 people.
The CDC is looking for 391 people from strategic locations throughout Salt Lake County, to come to the portable lab.
The volunteers get on treadmills, have their blood sugar tested, go through cardiovascular tests, have pictures taken of their eyes, full body scans of their bones and more.
When volunteers get their blood pressure taken, it is not something simple like you could get, say, from a physical. This is being done in a precision way for research. The blood pressure is taken and measured not once but several times.
Even more comprehensive is the room where volunteers are questioned about lifestyle and diet.
"How much casserole did you eat? A....a....about this much"
With obesity in adults and adolescents now considered an epidemic - this detailed diet evaluation is extremely important. In fact, changes occurring in the fast food industry have - in part - been prompted by previous data collected by the CDC from these portable labs.
Though this is random sampling in Salt Lake County, each person volunteering for this survey represents many more than just ONE.
Nora Martinello, CDC Study Manager: "And so each person represents about 25-thousand others of their same age, gender, race, and ethnicity."
If our health as a country is changing, if the trend is moving towards new diseases or emerging infections - if we're getting sicker OR getting better - it will show up here.
For those volunteering, the CDC assures privacy. Individuals are given codes and numbers. Names are never used. CDC surveyors are credentialed, if one should knock on your door.
