A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge Regarding Vitamin a Deficiency Disorders among Mothers of Under Five Children in Selected Area of Waghodia.

Abstract

Introduction: Vitamin-A Deficiency is a significant public health problem in over 75 countries. The Children of developing Countries suffer most from this condition, which is largely preventable. It is estimated that up to 230 million Children are at risk of Vitamin-A Deficiency and over one million Vitamins-A Deficiency associated Childhood deaths occur annually. Among Vitamin A is an essential nutrient for the normal functioning of the visual system and maintenance of cell function for growth, epithelial, red blood cell production, immunity, and reproduction. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the important factors for childhood blindness and a major contributing factor to morbidity and mortality among under-five children. It is mostly seen in poorer people and developing countries. About 2, 50,000 to 5,00,000 malnourished children in the developing world go blind each year. Vitamin A deficiency can be combated with a variety of food and medicine-based approaches including increased food diversity, food fortification and medical Vitamin A supplements in every six months.

Methods: In this study, Cross-Sectional Descriptive Research Design were used to assess the knowledge of participants regarding vitamin A deficiency disorder among mothers of under five children. Simple Random sampling technique was used to collect the data. 60 sample were taken from the Waghodia village of Vadodara. A knowledge-based questionnaire was used to assess the level of knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency disorder among mothers of under five children. Written informed consent was obtained from the study samples before data collection.

Results: Most mothers have completed primary education (45%), followed by secondary education (31.7%) and graduate education (21.7%). A small percentage is illiterate (1.7%). most mothers are housewives (86.7%), while a smaller percentage is engaged in labour work (5%), business (5%), or government jobs (3.3%). A significant portion of mothers have an income above 10,000 Rupees (63.3%). most families are joint families (63.3%), followed by nuclear families (35%), and a small percentage belong to extended families (1.7%). the distribution of dietary habits shows that 53.3% of mothers follow a mixed diet, while 46.7% follow a vegetarian diet, while 46.7% follow a vegetarian diet. most families have one under-five child (63.3%), followed by two children (31.7%), and a small percentage have three children (5%). most participants have taken the vitamin immunization (95%), while a small percentage have not taken it (5%). social workers are the primary source of information (76.7%), followed by family (13.3%), mass media (6.7%), and friends (3.3%). Overall, the data provides insight into the demographic characteristics of mothers in the sample, including their age, education, occupation, family structure, income, and sources of information. The data presented the knowledge levels of 60 mothers, 32 participants (53.3%)fall into the category of Poor Knowledge Score,35% have an Average Knowledge Score, 11.7% demonstrate a Good Knowledge Score