A rickets prevention program was carried out in Shanxi Province, China using locally appropriate methods. At the end of two and one-half years, the prevalence of rickets was 18% lower in program townships (56%) than in a control township that had no rickets prevention program (74%). Maternal awareness of how to prevent rickets was higher in program townships (43%) than in the control township (28%). However, the actual effect of maternal awareness on the prevention of rickets was negligible. In conclusion, this rickets prevention program was effective at reducing the prevalence of rickets. It appears the program was effective because of the presence of concerned program workers regularly visiting mothers and their infants, and using locally appropriate methods, but neither the vitamin supplements used nor the kind of rickets prevention education provided the mothers was shown to be positively correlated.
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