Study of impact of sociocultural and economic factors of mothers on the nutritional status of their malnourished children in a rural area of Delhi, India
Journal Title: International Journal of Medical Science and Public Health - Year 2015, Vol 4, Issue 2
Abstract
Background: Even after following the multi-strategy approach of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in India for the last four decades, reducing malnutrition among children below 6 years has turned out to be a herculean task, because of the poor focus by Anganwadi workers (AWWs) on empowering community to manage malnutrition among the children at home level. Therefore, it becomes necessary to assess the role of the mothers in managing malnutrition in their children. Objectives: To study the impact of sociocultural and economic factors of mothers on the nutritional status of their malnourished children in a rural area of Delhi, India. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted for a 6-month duration (July – December 2013) in a rural ICDS block (Narela) of Delhi. The 80 mothers of both the healthy and malnourished children (40 mothers in each group) were interviewed in depth via semi-structured interview schedule; and all these mothers were separately studied further by focus group discussion technique to explore their beliefs, opinions, and practices on malnutrition management in their children. All the collected data were fi nally triangulated and analyzed after applying w 2 -test from SPSS, version 22.0. Results: The main reasons behind inadequate efforts made by mothers in nutritional management of their children were the following: sporadic nutrition and health education given by AWWs at Anganwadi centers (AWCs) and homes to mothers leading to a lack of nutritional knowledge ( p o 0.05) and inadequate treatment-seeking behavior toward malnourished children (47.5%) and the poverty causing mothers to work outside home ( p o 0.05). Conclusion: AWWs need to focus urgently on their proper nutritional and health educational activities for mothers of malnourished children, regarding key messages on proper child-feeding practices and also the concerned government needs to provide more income opportunities to fathers of such children along with a targeted Public Distribution System.
Authors and Affiliations
Sanjeev Davey, Anuradha Davey, S Vivek Adhish, Rajni Bagga
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP132832
- DOI 10.5455/ijmsph.2015.2609201429
- Views 97
- Downloads 0
Profile of unintentional injury among under five children in coastal Karnataka, India: a cross-sectional study
Background: Childhood injury is a rising public health problem and cause of both financial and psychological strain on the family. Aims & Objective s : The study aims to determine the prevalence of unintent...
A study of yoga in anemic patients
Background: Anemia is a clinical condition characterized by reduction in number of red blood cells (RBCs) less than 4 million/mL or their content of hemoglobin less than 12 g/dL or both. Anemia is characterized by ge...
Study of sociodemographic characteristics and awareness about personal hygiene among the food handlers
Background: The contamination of food items prepared in food establishments depends largely on the health status of food handlers and their hygiene, behavior, and practices. The transmission of the microorganisms and...
Oral tuberculosis diagnosed from exfoliative cytology – two case reports
Oral lesions of tuberculosis though uncommon, are seen in both the primary and secondary stages of the disease. Primary oral tuberculosis is very rare and may present a diagnostic challenge for the clinician. This articl...
Perception on blood donation among engineering and medical students in Raichur: A cross-sectional study
Background: Sufficiency in safe blood supply at the time of need can be maintained only through regular, voluntary, and unpaid donation which being the safest group terms of lower rate of blood-borne infections. College...