SCAN initiated on the recommendations of the Preventive Cardiology Branch Task Force Group in the Five Year Forward Plan 1982-1987, the Conference on School Health Education Research in the Heart, Lung, and Blood Areas, and the Clinical Applications and Prevention Advisory Committee of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. A Request for Applications was released in October 1984. In 1985, six grants were awarded as part of the Study of Children's Activity and Nutrition (SCAN).