The effects of nutrition rehabilitation at three Family Life Training Centres in Central Province, Kenya

During the course of 1978, the three Family Life Training Centres studied admitted 273 women accompanied by 674 children. Women with malnourished children (and their siblings) are admitted to these centres for a 3-week course consisting primarily of nutrition and health education, but also covering good housekeeping and agriculture. During their stay mothers are taught to prepare a balanced diet from local foods to treat their children's condition. A group of 61 mothers and 94 children were interviewed and examined at admission, at discharge and at their homes, six months afterwards. A control group consisting of 100 mothers and 147 children drawn from two rural areas were interviewed and examined twice over the same period. The study concentrated on: (a) socio-economic circumstances; (b) nutritional knowledge; (c) maternal food preferences; (d) food consumption of the children; and (e) nutritional status and progress of the children. It was found that the nutritional knowledge and preferences of the women admitted to the centres were no less than that of other rural Kikuyu women, and it appeared that malnutrition is related more to adverse socio-economic circumstances than to ignorance