A PROBLEM-SOLVING APPROACH TO NUTRITION EDUCATION WITH FILIPINO MOTHERS

The study examined Filipino mothers' problem solving on issues related to child feeding, using a dyadic, peer-help approach. The participant s were mothers of children under 6 yr of age from a village in the sou thern Philippines, where malnutrition among children is prevalent. Mot hers were paired with a mutual Friend (each nominated the other as a b est friend) or a unilateral friend (only one nominated the other as a best friend) to discuss a feeding problem to which they initially gave similar solutions (agreed) and one to which they gave different solut ions (disagreed). In the final step, they were asked to give privately the solutions they considered best for the problem. The number and qu ality of these final-step solutions were analyzed as a function of the friend relation, the level of initial agreement with their friend par tner, and the source of the solution. Results indicated that the quant ity and quality of solutions increased from before to after the dyadic discussion,especially among mothers paired with a mutual friend with whom they agreed. Most of their final-step solutions came from ones th ey themselves had generated during the discussion, not ones their frie nd partner had proposed. There was also evidence that high quality sol utions were generated by mothers paired with a disagreeing unilateral friend. Implications for nutrition education concern the benefits of a peer-help, dyadic problem-solving approach, taking into account the r ole of a friend in facilitating a mother's production of new solutions to child feeding problems. The procedure may be used by health promot ers who want to build capacities and self-reliance through collective problem solving. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.