A Study to Asses the Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Selected Aspects of Growth and Development of Children among Mothers of under Five Children at Selected Areas of Kolhapur

Children of today are the citizens of tomorrow, who can build a healthy nation and are resources for the future child health is the corner stone of national Progress and the country which neglects, it, neglects, its future progress. The age group up to five years is an important period of life. At each stage of a child�s growth and development, appropriate care is very essential. World Health Organization states that, �Parents should use growth charts as a tool to monitor the growth of the child and to understand, follow nutritional recommendations, and to seek timely health care for their children. � Children under five year of age constitute 15 to 20% of population in developing countries and 35 to 60% of all death occur in this age group, childhood is a period of rapid growth and development, children under five years of age require special health care. More than 200 million children under 5 years of age in developing countries do not reach their developmental potential. Besides biological determinants, family environments of young children are major predictors of cognitive and socio emotional abilities. Early identification and timely intervention in populations with established risk can go a long way towards improving their functional capacity. OBJECTIVES: 1. To assess the knowledge regarding selected aspects of growth and development of children among mothers of under five children. 2. To assess the attitude regarding selected aspects of growth and development. 3. To develop and provide informational booklet to the mothers of under five children. RESULT: The result indicates that among 70 mothers of under five children, Majority of (37) mothers of under five children belonged to 23-28 years (52.85%) and not a single mothers of under five children belonged to 36yrs and above. Majority of (31) mothers of under five children had secondary education (44.28%) and 4 mothers of under five children were illiterate (5.71%) Majority of (43) mothers of under five children were housewife's (61.42%) and 3mothers of under five children were farmers (4.28%) Majority of (50) mothers of under five children belonged to joint family (71.42%) and only 2 mothers of under five children belonged to extended family (2.85%) Majority of (38) mothers of under five children were having two children (10%) and 10 mothers of under five children were having three and more than three children. Majority of (28) mothers of under five children got the knowledge from health care personal and 4 mothers of under five children were not having any source regarding growth and development. The knowledge scores of mothers of under five children indicates, Majority of mothers of under five children 63 (90%) were in average category and 06 (8.57%) were in poor category and only1 (1.42%) mother of under five children in good category. The attitude scores of mothers of under five children indicates, Majority of mothers of under five children 39 (55.71%) were in Favourable category and 27 (38.57%) were in Moderately favourable category and only 04 (5.71%) mother of under five children in Unfavourable category. The knowledge scores distribution with mean, were 11.75, median was 12, mode was 09, standard deviation was 2.69, and range was 12. There is an emerging need to provide information booklet on selected aspects of growth and development. It is high time we should understand that all the mothers of under five children should have good knowledge and attitude regarding selected aspects of growth and development. KEY WORDS: Growth and development, under five children.