The Milton survey: Part 1, General methods, height, weight and 24-hour excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and creatinine.

This paper describes the methods and general aims of a survey carried out on just over 1200 subjects (about 82% of the adult population) in Milton, a small town south of Dunedin. Data were collected on personal and family history, present medication if any, 24-hour dietary recall, psychometric scores, height, weight, skin-fold thickness, anthropometry, blood pressure, heart rate, electrocardiogram, mass miniature X-ray of chest, forced expiratory volume (FEV1), fasting plasma cholesterol and triglycerides, lipoprotein pattern and fasting and post-prandial blood sugar in a selected subgroup, and 24-hour urine volume and excretion of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and creatinine. Mean values are given in the paper for each 10-year age group for height, weight, Quetelet's index, 24-hour urine volume, creatinine, sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium. These and other results will be discussed in detail in subsequent papers.