THE IMPACT OF NUTRITION EDUCATION THROUGH THE SUPPLEMENTARY FOOD PROGRAM WIC IN EFFECTING CHANGE IN PARTICIPANT KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND FOOD INTAKE PATTERNS (NORTH CAROLINA)

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the impact of the nutrition education component of the Wake County WIC program on nutrition behavior change in the WIC participant. The focus of the evaluative research was the assessment of nutrition knowledge, attitudinal and food intake changes associated with a combined small group/individual instruction educational treatment. The comparison group received individual instruction only. A second purpose was to determine the extent to which the sociodemographic variables of age, place of residence, educational level and race were associated with any participant's behavior change.;Fifty-nine WIC participants completed the pretest/posttest process. The typical participant was 20 to 24 years of age, resided in the city limits of Raleigh, N.C., had an eleventh to twelfth grade education and was nonwhite.;Two research hypotheses were formulated. Hypothesis I pertained to nutrition-related behavior change that occurred within the experimental group exposed to a combined small group/individual instruction treatment and within the comparison group exposed to individual instruction only. Statistically significant nutrition behavior changes in the two groups did not occur except in regard to milk intake in the comparison group. There was a significant nutrition knowledge change within the experimental group, and the comparison group demonstrated highly significant nutritional attitudinal changes as well as significant knowledge and milk intake changes. However, when the changes within the groups were compared, there was no significant difference except for milk intake in the comparison group.;The second hypothesis tested for the possible relationship of the WIC participant's age, place of residence, educational level and race on the nutrition-related changes that occurred. The sociodemographic variables of age, place of residence and race appeared to be significantly associated with nutrition behavior change. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.).;The target population was "high risk" pregnant females who were participants in the WIC program at Wake Medical Center, Raleigh, N.C. A quasi-experimental pretest/posttest design was followed. Participants were assigned to the experimental group according to their clinic appointment day. Each group was pretested before initiation of any nutrition education and posttested 8 to 10 weeks later.