A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE REGARDING VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER FIVE CHILDERN IN SELECTED RURAL AREAS AT PUDUCHERRY

Introduction: Vitamin A is essential for eye health and the proper functioning of the immune system. It is found in foods such as milk, liver, eggs, red and orange fruits, red palm oil and green leafy vegetables, although the amount of vitamin A readily available to the body from these sources varies widely. Vitamin A deficiency is a major nutritional problems among under five children in developing and under developed countries. Vitamin A deficiency is a systemic disease with major effects on eye this deficiency is usually associated with malnutrition, chronic diarrhea, malabsorption syndrome hepatic insufficiency and prematurity. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM: A DESCRIPTIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE KNOWLEDGE REGARDING VITAMIN A DEFICIENCY AMONG MOTHERS OF UNDER FIVE CHILDREN IN SELECTED RURAL AREA AT PUDUCHERRY. OBJECTIVES: To assess the level of knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency among mothers of under five children. To associate the level of knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency among mothers of under five children with their selected demographic variables. Methodology: A quantitative research design was used for this study in group of selected mothers of under five children in rural area at Puducherry. A cross sectional descriptive survey was used. A total number of 50 samples were selected by the convenient sampling technique. The data was collected using a unstructured questionnaires. The Major Findings Of The Study: The findings reveals that out of 50 mothers of under five children the knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency 36(72%) more than half of them had inadequate knowledge, 8(16%) of them had moderate knowledge and 6(12%) of them had adequate knowledge. The chi square test reveled that is no statistically significant association between the selected demographic variables such as Age of the mother, age of the baby, sex of the baby, religion, type of family, source of information, socio economic status, occupation of the mother and information regarding vitamin A deficiency with the level of p<0.05. Conclusion: From this study it was concluded that the knowledge of the mother of under five children regarding vitamin A deficiency shows that most of the mothers have inadequate knowledge. 36(72%) more than half of them had inadequate knowledge, 8(16%) of them had moderate knowledge and 6(12%) of them had adequate knowledge. So the community health personal should motivate the mothers of under five children in educating about vitamin A deficiency and its prevention.