Evaluating EFNEP Audience Change Through Attrition Patterns

Data on attrition from the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) were analyzed to determine whether there have been changes in the characteristics of the low-income audience served by the program. Data from the 1986, 1988, and 1989 programs in a Washington State county were used. Dropouts differed significantly in selected sociodemographic characteristics from year to year, but in ways that reflected year-to-year differences in enrollees. A pilot pro gram tested in 1989, which used new recruitment and instructional methods, led to enrollees and dropouts with higher levels of education, income, and dietary adequacy than had been seen in the previous years. There was also evidence that the program in all three years tended to lose clients in the lower income brackets and to retain clients who were less educated and of Asian-American ethnicity. Dropouts in each year had dietary inadequacies, although these inadequacies varied from year to year. Implications of the different patterns of attrition are discussed relative to program evaluation and future research.