Knowledge and Practice of Mothers Regarding the Prevention and Management of Malnutrition Among Preschool Children – A Cross Sectional Survey

Abstract

Malnutrition remains one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality among children throughout the world. Malnutrition has been responsible, directly or indirectly for 60% of the 10.9 million deaths annually among children under five. The research study was aimed to assess the knowledge and practice of mothers of preschool children regarding the prevention and management of malnutrition. The design used was descriptive cross sectional survey. The study was conducted in a coastal setting of Trivandrum district with a sample size of 115. Data collection was done by self administered structured questionnaire by conducting mothers meeting at selected Anganwadis. According to the results of the study 19.1% of mothers had good knowledge and 34.8 % of mothers had poor knowledge. Regarding practice only 24.3 % of mothers reported good practice while 36.6 % of mothers reported poor practice. There was a strong association between the knowledge and Practice of mothers and selected socio demographic variables such as educational status of mothers and socio economic class (p less than 0.01)). The study findings can be used for planning targeted nursing interventions in coastal areas for mothers of preschool children.