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i I I J I I I ! I } I I DHHS. Since then, WIC enrollments in EFNEP have risen by 25 percent, resulting in substan- tial savings of time and effort for recruiting. Group teaching, the most cost-effective method for program delivery, has risen by 44 percent since 1988. EFNEP participation results in significant dietary improvement for families. Initially, over 40 percent of EFNEP families report inade- quate intakes of dairy foods, vegetables and fruits in their daily diet. After six months, 90 percent of EFNEP graduates show improved intakes from all food groups. Special innovative projects include family day camps for parents and children; special programs for pregnant teenagers; self-aware- ness/esteem programs for adolescents; and fitness/weight control programs at work sites. EFNEP SUCCESSES A highly successful WIC/EFNEP breastfeeding pilot project helps WIC clients prevent early lactation failure and results in more babies being breastfed beyond two months post-par- tum. In this collaborative effort, WIC promotes and EFNEP supports breastfeeding among WIC mothers. · A mother of four very young children needed help with everything. She needed to learn how to cook from scratch, so that less money would have to be spent for fast foods and ready-pre- pared foods. After learning to make simple meals and learning how to shop for better buys, she found that home-cooked meals improved her family's state of mind. Her husband no longer ate out, the children were better be- haved, she herself felt better with her changed diet and her new skills. · Eight years after having been part of an EFNEP youth group, a young high school graduate turned up as a volunteer at a youth camp. He remembered that, following the EFNEP meetings, he would go home and try the recipes. He said 'I think it (EFNEP) is an espe- cially useful program for kids who come from one-parent homes like I did. Although single parents love their kids, they usually have to work really hard to make ends meet and to keep the household going. So they don't have much time to spend with their kids teaching them basic things like cooking". (He reported he was about to enter college on an athletic schol- arship.) Of three outstanding EFNEP homemakers in one county who returned to school, one en- tered the community college's Early Childhood · Development Program. Her interest in working with children began when her son entered Head Start and she began volunteering. She made great progress in her community efforts, finally chairing Head Start meetings with dis- tinction. · Another, who enrolled in the cosme- tology course, maintained an outstanding aver- age, contributing greatly to her level of self-con- fidence. · The third attended night classes in nursing while her husband looked after the chil- dren. She graduated with one of the highest grades in her class and is employed as a nursing assistant. For more information about EFNEP, please contact your local Extension center: Published by North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service Distributed in turtherance of the Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914, Employment and program opportunities are offered to all people regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. North Carolina State University, North Carolina A&TState University, U.S, Department of Agriculture, and local governments cooperating. EFNEP--56 Programs for Families and Youth North Carolina Cooperative £xtension Service NORTH CAROLINA STATE UN1VERSFFY