As part of a national study of the nutrition of preschool children, data were collected on 201 Apache children, 1 to 6 years of age, living on an Indian reservation in Arizona. This report reviews procedures and clinical findings, and gives an analysis of growth data including skeletal maturation, nutrient intakes and clinical biochemical data. In the study, home interviews were conducted and children were also examined clinically. The high level of voluntary participation of families reflected great interest in the health status of their children. Limited socioeconomic information was obtained on the participant families but, generally, living conditions were at the poverty or near-poverty level. It is noted that 36 of the children were enrolled in Head Start and received a portion of their food intake there. The pattern of insufficient or inadequate dietary intakes, growth underachievement and biochemical evidence of nutritional risk seen for Apache children was similar to that of children living in poverty in Mississippi. (NH)