A study was conducted in rural Maryland which utilized a 3-stage panel design with experimental and matched control groups. The questions to which answers were sought were: (1) What specific changes are achieved over time by nutrition aides visiting rural poor mothers in their homes? (2) Is there a point of diminishing returns with home visits? Homemakers were interviewed in 1970, 1971, and 1972 to determine shifts in their knowledge, attitudes, and nutritional practices, as well as related health and child-rearing practices. Questionnaires completed by aides in 1970 and 1972 and various service records also were analyzed. Variable improvements in knowledge, attitudes, and practices were documented, and specific program components were evaluated. Effectiveness of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program was shown in relation to limited objectives. The longitudinal data on nutritional, attitudinal, and behavioral effects indicated that the impact of the aide on homemaker improvement diminishes after the first year of contact and that continuing home visits with the same homemakers in the third year are of minimal value. Original gains of the first year were not lost, but further gains were not apparent after the second year of home visits. (Author/HBC)