BACKGROUND: Research needs to identify diet and disease associations to provide direction about effecting change in individuals with dietary behaviors that increase risk of chronic disease. Inclusion of dietary assessment in the University of North Carolina Alumni Heart Study (UNCAHS) provides the opportunity to prospectively investigate dietary intake and chronic disease associations with measures of personality and behavioral risk factors. METHODS: Development of the UNCAHS food frequency questionnaire and nutrient intake of 4,443 middle-aged men and women is provided stratified by total fat and vitamin A intake within demographic and health behavior categories. RESULTS: Alumni consume diets close to that recommended by current dietary guidelines. Both men and women have low calcium intake. Thirty-nine percent of the alumni consume diets with 30% of kilocalories from fat or less and 88% meet the RDA for vitamin A. Never smokers had lower fat diets and greater intakes of vitamin A than former or current smokers. Over 54% of alumni currently took vitamin/mineral supplements. CONCLUSIONS: UNCAHS participants will be tracked as they approach older ages with apparently less risk for diet-related chronic diseases than many Americans. The psychosocial correlates of these eating behaviors will be evaluated as disease endpoints occur.