ASSOCIATION AMONG HEALTH HABITS, RISK-FACTORS, AND ALL-CAUSE MORTALITY IN A BLACK CALIFORNIA POPULATION

We evaluated dietary and other risk factors in a black California coho rt. Baseline data were gathered in 1974 and 1976, and mortality follow -up continued through 1985. A study census questionnaire was returned from 3,299 subjects who lived in a household containing at least one S eventh-Day Adventist. Of these, 1,668 subjects also completed a detail ed life-style and dietary questionnaire in 1976. Vital status was asce rtained using church records and the California State death tapes. Mor tality hazard ratios (HR; both sexes combined) across three increasing consumption levels were determined for nuts (1.00, 0.60, 0.56), fruit s (1.00, 0.38, 0.57), and green salads (1.00, 0.54, 0.65). Consumption of meats appeared more hazardous for women, although there was no dos e-response relation. Education (HR = 1.00, no college; 0.74, some coll ege; 0.42, college graduate), male gender (HR = 1.55), diabetes mellit us (HR = 1.77), and hypertension (HR = 2.52) were independently associ ated with mortality, as was obesity, which had a curvilinear associati on in women and a linear association in men. Exercise was not associat ed with mortality after excluding those with morbidity at baseline. In summary, traditional risk factors operated with similar force in this black population. In addition, the frequent consumption of nuts, frui ts, and green salads appears protective.