Impact of the Expanded Food and Nu­trition Education Program on Low­Income Families-An Indepth Analy­sis, Agricultural Economic Report No. 220, Feb. 1972, USDA Econo­mic Research Service, Washington, DC 20250, 74 p.

This is the first indepth report of eval­uation of the Expanded Food and Nu­trition Education Program (EFNEP) on a national scale. This study deals with 10,500 of the 184,000 families who par­ticipated in the program before October, 1969, and who were continuing to parti­cipate six months later.

It is heartening to find that the home­makers with the poorest diets showed more improvement than did those who had better initial food consumption. Homemakers receiving more visits from program personnel-a measure of in­tensity of program instruction-in­creased their consumption of foods in the milk and fruit/vegetable groups more than did those receiving fewer visits.

Much credit goes to the nonprofes-

International 'Wheeler, E. F., Population, food sup-

plies and health, Nutr., 25:213,1971. The author, from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, demon­strates that since World War II, world food supplies have increased commen­surate with, but not ahead of, the de­mands of an increasing population. She states that reduction in population will only theoretically increase the per capita food supplies, but food will not neces­sarily reach those suffering severe mal­nutrition.

A case is made for more efficient dis­tribution of food, more incentives for farmers to increase their crop yields, and economic improvements for the poorest people, rather than reducing population per se to decrease the in­cidence of malnutrition. However, Wheeler states that there are other im­portant reasons for 'reducing population - social, economic, and environmental.

Some useful statistics are given in the form of tables and graphs. The article is an up-to-date reference on the status of the population/ food supply race.

M.C.P.

Santos, M., Industrial cities eat better, Ceres, FAO Rev., 4(No. 6) :31, 1971.

In developing countries, large indus-

SUMMER. 1972

sional program aides who worked with the hard-to-reach families in poverty areas, showing them the need for im­proved nutrition and demonstrating to them how to use their limited family income and resources more effectively.

According to the study, most of the families contacted before October, 1969, were from minority ethnic groups, and 90% were in the lowest U. S. income quartile. The average annual family in­come was less than $2,700, of which one-third was spent for food. Families with incomes of less than $1 ,200 spent nearly one-half for food. Homemakers in all income classes showed improve­ment, and often those with lower in­comes showed the greatest progress.

This report contains extensive tables and charts of the interrelationship be­tween changes of knowledge and food consumption prac·tice of the home­makers of different family socioecono­mic characteristics. There is a detailed description of the sampling procedure and the family record which was ob­tained. This description would be a use-

trial cities and small townships with traditional agricultural surroundings are likely to have the most satisfactory bal­ance between food supply and demand. However, as the author points out, most towns in developing countries are of small or medium size and "out of har­mony with their regional setting."

As a town grows by urbanization, in­dustrial activities compete with agricul­ture for vital resources-labor, capital, machinery, transportation facilities, etc. --until its size is large enough to sup­port both activities.

Although the article analyzes the problem from the point of view of the economist and sociologist, it does point out the many factors that can adversely influence food supply, for example rapid social change, foreign trade, im­migration , the rural exodus, etc. M.C.P.

Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Nutrition, Eighth Report, 1971, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. From UNIPUB, Inc., P. O. Box 433, New York, NY 10016, 104 p., $1.25. The Eighth Joint FAO/ WHO Expert

Committee on Nutrition met in Novem­ber, 1970, and this is a report of that meeting. Food fortification programs and protein-calorie malnutrition were the two main subjects, discussed in some detail.

Training and education in nutrition

ful reference to others carrying out simi­lar evaluation studies.

Some additional figures released by the Federal EFNEP Office in Spring, 1972, indicate that there have been 2,-444,180 families contacted since the in­ception of the program in Summer, 1969. There have been 677,270 program families (those who participated ac­tively) since that time.

As of January 31, 1972, there were 9,042 program aides working with 354,-367 families which had 1,677,895 mem­bers. The youth participating in 4-H ac­tlvltles of the EFNEP program since July 1, 1971, total 499,478.

The number contacted through EFNEP indicates a sizable contribution toward nutrItion education of the poor. If these changes in food consumption and knowledge continue at a similar rate to that shown in this study, the program will constitute a major contribution to­ward breaking the poverty cycle and opening a new way of life for large numbers of low-income, hard-to-reach families . H .D.U.

are also discussed in the report. It is significant that such a high level inter­national committee recommends that at­tention be paid to evaluation of nutri­tion education programs.

Some general (;onsiderations of evalu­tion and its importance are mentioned. These include: 1) comparing mass media approaches with traditional meth­ods of individual counseling, demon­strations, and group conferences; 2) as­sessing graphic methods of presenting nutrition information; 3) review the na­ture and effectiveness of educational materials used in schools; and 4) evalu­ation of the adequacy of teaching meth­ods, content of the program, and evalu­ation of the evaluation method itself.

M.C.P.

Nutrition: A Review of the WHO Programme-I, WHO Chronicle, 26 : 160, 1972.

This article identifies the four nutri­tional diseases that deserve highest pri­ority on a global basis-protein-calorie malnutrition , xerophthalmia, nutritional anemias, and endemic goiter. The work of the World Health Organization, in cooperation with other international­level bodies, is described. Several useful tables included in it summarize the or­ganization of various nutrition programs in developing countries. The article is a useful overview of the role of WHO in world nutrition.

Journal of NUTRITION EDUCATION I 115