Evaluation of a face-to-face weaning food intervention in Kwara State, Nigeria: knowledge, trial, and adoption of a home-prepared weaning food.

This paper reports on the evaluation of a pilot intervention which used nutrition education techniques to introduce a fortified, home-prepared weaning food (eko ilera, or 'pap for health') in 12 communities in Kwara State, Nigeria, from June to August, 1988. The recipe added toasted cowpea flour, red palm oil, and sugar to increase the energy and protein density of the traditional maize or sorghum starch porridge used for weaning from 38 to 85 kcal and 0.8 to 2.0 g protein per 100 g. A stratified, random sample of participating (n = 295) and non-participating (n = 301) mothers from the same communities were interviewed from 2 to 8 weeks following the completion of the intervention, and their rates of knowledge, trail, and adoption of eko ilera were evaluated. Of the participating mothers, 57% (95% CI: 51%, 63%) knew the modified recipe, 48% (43%, 54%) tried it, and 17% (12%, 21%) adopted it with the intention of using it in the future. Only 2% (1%, 7%) of non-participating mothers knew about the recipe. Multivariate analyses indicated that the mothers' level of education and their perception of the cost and length of preparation time of the recipe were significantly associated with its adoption. The intervention was successful in using face-to-face nutrition education methods to introduce eko ilera to mothers in this region of Nigeria and to encourage its trial and adoption.