EFFECTIVENESS OF 2 METHODS OF ADVISING MOTHERS ON INFANT-FEEDING AND DIETETIC MANAGEMENT OF DIARRHEA AT AN OUTPATIENT-CLINIC IN PERU

The effectiveness of two educational intervention programmes in promot ing infant feeding practices was assessed among mothers of small child ren attending a hospital's Oral Rehydration Unit in Peru. One group of mothers received 5 min of counselling and a recipe pamphlet. The othe r group received the same counselling plus a 20-min cooking demonstrat ion. Both interventions had a statistically significant (p<0.05) impac t on maternal knowledge and practices; differences between the impact of the two practices were negligible. After merging both groups into a single sample, it was observed that changes over time were significan tly large (p<0.05). Knowledge rates were 27.6% before the intervention , 73.7% 2 days later and 75% 30 days later. The corresponding figures for practices were 2.6%, 58.3% and 37.5% respectively. We conclude tha t when place, time and message are adequately chosen, a simple method may be an effective way of good communication. We suggest that a large r implementation trial would be useful before starting larger infant f eeding programmes.