The study had three phases and utilized a social-marketing approach. Phase I, the first year of the study, was a community diagnosis consisting of a population-based random-digit-dialing survey and a series of focus groups to define eating patterns and nutrient intake in their social context in the African American population. Community focus groups were conducted to design culturally-specific nutrition education modules to be used in two subsequent randomized trials. Phase I also consisted of the adaptation of existing instruments to determine nutrition literacy levels, comprehension and the readability specifically in this population.