text: BACKGROUND: The Goals for Health project is designed to change the cancer-related behaviors of tobacco use and dietary fat and fiber consumption. The intervention teaches health and life skills to rural, minority sixth and seventh graders in rural Virginia and New York. This article presents the results of the pilot. METHODS: Participants were 129 sixth graders at one rural middle school who were surveyed prior to and following delivery of the pilot sixth-grade intervention. RESULTS: Results include significant changes from pre- to post-intervention in several diet and smoking attitude and self-efficacy variables, dietary fat and fiber knowledge, high-fat snack consumption, and dietary fat scores. Multivariate analyses reveal important contributions of personal control over food choices and family and friend influence on change in dietary fat score from pre- to post-intervention. CONCLUSIONS: These pilot program results suggest avenues for dietary and cancer prevention interventions in high-risk, rural adolescents.