Evaluation study of the California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program: 24-hour food recall data

The California Expanded Food and Nutrition Education program (EFNEP) Evaluation Study evaluated the effectiveness of the California program. The eating habits of 683 persons were studied in a group receiving EFNEP instruction (355 participants) and a control group (328 participants) that received no instruction. The 24-hour food recall was used to assess eating habits using the Synectics method. At the beginning of the study, there were no differences in food recall scores between the EFNEP and the control groups. After 6 months of instruction in the EFNEP group, there was a significant increase in food recall score for that group and no change in the control group. The improvements observed in the EFNEP group resulted from increased intakes from the milk, protein, and fruit and vegetable food groups. The program characteristics that led to those changes were determined to be in the length of the EFNEP visit, the number of EFNEP visits, and the EFNEP instruction topics. These results show that the California EFNEP is effective in producing significant changes in the eating habits of the low-income individuals it serves.