Pilot Project II: Evaluation of Risk Factors for Chronic Disease Among Adults on Guam
(Co-Project Leaders: Dr. Rachael Leon Guerrero (UOG) and Dr. Suzanne Murphy (CRCH))
Brief Project Summary:

The goal of this project is to develop instruments and methods for measuring dietary
and anthropometric risk factors for chronic disease in Guam, with particular focus on
cancer risk.  There have been few attempts to systematically measure these types of
risk factors, although small dietary surveys were conducted in 1969 and 1983.  The
project will combine the methods now in use for studies conducted by the Cancer
Research Center of Hawaii with the databases from these previous studies to develop
appropriate questionnaires, anthropometric and RMR measures, and dietary recall
methodology.

Specific objectives include:

  1. Develop the tools to accurately measure food and nutrient intakes, including a
protocol for conducting 24-hour dietary recalls, a food composition database, a food
grouping database, and a recipe file; conduct a small pilot study using these methods.
 2. Conduct a survey of a representative sample of 120 adult Filipinos and
Chamorros living on Guam, and evaluate dietary quality, physical activity levels, and
body size; compare these findings to those from prior dietary surveys to estimate
changes in dietary quality.
 3. Develop a food frequency questionnaire (FPQ) using date from the dietary
recalls, the FPQ will be essential for measuring usual food and nutrient intake in
future studies of diet and health.


The results of this study are necessary in order to design a more comprehensive
investigation of associations between environmental risk factors (such as poor dietary
quality, sedentary lifestyle, and obesity) and cancer outcomes.
Rachael T. Leon Guerrero, Ph.D.
Co-Leader

Assistant Professor of Nutrition,
University of Guam

B.A., University of Guam
M.S, University of Hawaii
R.D. and Ph.D., Colorado State
University

E-mail: rachaeltlg@uog9.uog.edu
Suzanne P. Murphy, Ph.D., R.D.
Co-Leader

Researcher (Professor), Cancer Research
Center of Hawaii;

MS (Molecular Biology), San Francisco
State University;
Ph.D. (Nutrition), University of California,
Berkeley;
Registered Dietitian

E-mail:  suzanne@crch.hawaii.edu