The purpose of this study was to examine prevalence of selected cardiovascular disease risk factors in eight Iowa counties. From a random sample of 35-54-year-old males and females in eight counties, data were collected on smoking, blood pressure, exercise, body weight, and diet. Thirty-one percent of the females and 29% of the males were current smokers. Twenty-two percent had elevated blood pressure on a single measure and 55% of these were previously undetected. Twenty-eight percent engaged in regular exercise. The most popular forms of exercise were walking and bicycling. The prevalence of overweight in females and males was 36 and 46%, respectively. Percentage of males classified as overweight was higher than in national studies. Twenty-four-hour dietary recalls showed males receiving at least 100% of their RDAs for eight indicator nutrients and females receiving at least 100% of the RDAs for all but calcium and iron. The diet appeared to be higher in fat (39% energy from fat) and saturated fat (P/S = 0.46) than the national diet and to include less consumption of low-fat dairy products and fish.