Abstract
The bubble chart is a growth chart that has a vertical layout rather than the more common horizontal one, and bubbles instead of cries-crossing lines. The present project aimed to evaluate knowledge, understanding, and use of the bubble chart by 85 mothers living in a rural area of central Mexico. The evaluation was done with a pre-intervention post-intervention design, and was based on Bloom's taxonomy of the learning process, which defines a sequence that goes from knowledge to understanding (comprising translation, interpretation, and extrapolation), and finally to application. All areas evaluated showed an increase between pre-intervention and post-intervention, with a statistically significant (p <.05) increase in knowledge, interpretation, and application; the mothers ranked highest in knowledge. The children's nutritional status increased significantly (p <.0001) between pre-intervention and post-intervention. Except for one child, they had at least one period of weight loss during the study period. However, 81% of them gained weight most of the time (i.e., at least two-thirds of records showed weight increments), 7% maintained their weight most of the time (at least two-thirds of weight records showed neither gain nor loss), and 12% lost weight most of the time (at least two-thirds of records showed weight loss). Mothers of children who mostly gained weight had higher knowledge, understanding, and application scores (p <.01). Similarly, these mothers were most likely to perform all the activities promoted as part of the growth programme (p <.001).