Support for this research grew out of recommendations made at the Working Conference on Coronary Heart Disease in Black Populations held in September 1983 and sponsored by the NHLBI. The group recommended this research to identify the physiological and/or behavioral factors which contribute to obesity in Black females. In addition, the 1981 Report of the Working Group on Arteriosclerosis of the NHLBI stated that research is needed to characterize the behaviors that create and maintain caloric imbalance. The initiative was approved by the September 1984 National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council and the Request for Proposals was released in November 1984.