INTRODUCTION :

A human life is divided in to five main stages mainly infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. Among this early childhood is considered as one of the most important stage of life. The health status of children is considered as an index of nation development. Children constitute the most important and vulnerable segment of population.⁽¹⁾

Nutrient deficiency can cause protein energy malnutrition, vitamin deficiency disorders, iodine deficiency disorders, calcium and other micronutrients deficiency disorders occur. Vitamin-A deficiency disorder is one of them.⁽¹⁾Vitamin-A deficiency is seen more commonly in under five children(1- 5 years). Vitamin-A deficiency affect the eyes. It causes “xerophthalmia”

VAD is estimated to affect approximately one third of the children under age of five around the world. It is estimated to claim the lives of 670,000 children under five annually. Approximately 250,000– 500,000 children in developing countries become blind each year owing to VAD, with the highest prevalence in Southeast Asia and Africa. According to WHO, VAD is under control in US but in developing countries VAD is a significant concern.⁽²⁾

The word “vitamin” means life. Vitamins are substances essential for the maintenance of normal metabolic functions they are required for metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Vitamins are widely used as dietary supplements. Even though vitamin supplements are of no demonstrated value for healthy infants, child, adolescents or adults who is consuming an adequate and varied diet. ⁽³⁾

Objectives of The Study:

· To assess the knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders among mothers of under five children.

· To find out the association of knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders with selected socio-demographic variables.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research Approach:

Quantitative research approach.

Research Design:

Non experimental descriptive design.

Variables Under Study:

Age (in years), educational status of mother, religion of mother, occupation of mother, income per month(in rupees), type of family, dietary habits of mother, number of children below five years, immunization of vitamin A done at (in years) and source of information regarding vitamin A deficiency.

Assumptions:

The mothers may have inadequate knowledge regarding prevention of vitamin A deficiency diseases.

Study Setting:

The study was conducted in Village Kaddon, Ludhiana Punjab.

Population:

The target population of the study was Mothers of under five Children of distt ludhiana, Punjab.

Sampling Technique and Sample:

Sample consisted of 60 mothers of under five children of selected rural area in district Ludhiana and selection was done on the basis of convenience sampling technique used to select and collect the sample.

CRITERIA FOR THE SAMPLE SELECTION:

Inclusion Criteria:

· Mothers who were residing in selected rural are of district Ludhiana , Punjab.

· Mothers of under five children.

· Mothers who were present at the time of data collection.

· Mothers who were willing to participate.

· Mothers who understood Punjabi language.

Exclusion Criteria:

· Mothers who had children above five years of age.

· Mothers who were not willing to participate.

Description of Final Tool:

Part 1: Socio demographic profile.

Part 2: Self structured questionnaire to assess the knowledge of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders among under five children.

RESULTS:

a) Frequency and percentage distribution of mothers of under five children according to knowledge score of vitamin A Deficiency Disorders

The distribution of mothers of under five children ie 60 according to knowledge score majority of mothers 37 (61.67%) had average knowledge and 23 (38.33%) mothers had good knowledge.

Figure 1: illustrate that knowledge of group of mothers i.e 60, majority of mothers 37 (61.67%) had average knowledge and 23 (38.33%) mothers had good knowledge

b) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with selected socio demographic variables.

I) Association of Knowledge Score of Mothers of Under Five children with Age:

Association of knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders with age of mothers , chi square was computed which was 3.45 and found to be statistically non significant at p<0.05. Hence, it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by age of mothers.

ii) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with educational status:

In order to determine the association of knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders with age of mothers , chi square was computed which was 11.60 and found to be statistically significant at p<0.05.Hence , it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was affected by education of mothers.

Figure 2. Depicts the percentage distribution of education of mothers of under five children.

iii) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with educational status: In relation to Age of Mother:

In order to determine the association of knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders with age of mothers, chi square was computed which was 0.86 and found to be statistically non significant at p<0.05. Hence, it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by religion of mothers.

iv) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with occupation of mother:

In order to determine the association of knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders with age of mothers, chi square was computed which was 10.10 and found to be statistically significant at p<0.05. Hence, it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was affected by occupation of mothers.

Figure 3: Depicts the distribution of occupation of mothers of under five children

v) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with income of mother:

it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by income of mothers.

vi) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with income of mother: The distribution according to type of family:

it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by type of family of mothers.

vii) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with dietry habbits of mother:

it found to be statistically non significant at p<0.05.

viii) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with no. of children below five years:

It can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by no. of children below five years.

xi) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with time of immunisation of vitamin A:

It can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by time of immunization of vitamin A.

x) Association of knowledge score of mothers of under five children with source of information In case of source of information:

Hence, it can be concluded that knowledge score of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders was not affected by source of information.

DISCUSSION:

The present study with regards to the knowledge of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders showed that Education of mothers is found to be statistically significant with the knowledge of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders which was consistent with findings of Mills J.P (2007)⁴ who concluded that educational interventions should focus on basic vitamin-A Knowledge regarding sources as well as symptom of deficiency and Education should also emphasize on increasing the variety of food rich in pro-vitamin-A carotetnoids grown in home garden.

The present study with regards to the knowledge of mothers regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders showed that highest percentage of mothers (61.67%) had average knowledge and (38.33%) mothers had good knowledge regarding Vitamin A Deficiency Disorders which was consistent with findings of Njue MW (1994)⁵ which revealed that that almost half (49%) of respondents were aware of Vitamin A supplementation and majority (66%) had never discussed about Vitamin A importance and the study concludes that mother’s were positive and supportive of Vitamin A supplementation.

CONCLUSION:

The findings of the study revealed that majority of mothers 61.67% had average knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders. The range of knowledge score regarding vitamin A deficiency disorders score was 0 – 18 and it was found to be statistically significantly associated with educational status and occupation of mother .There was no association of knowledge of mothers with age, religion, income per month, type of family, dietary habits, number of children below five years, immunization of child and source of information.

REFERENCES:

1. http://iosjournals.org/iosr-jnhs/papers/vol3-issue2/Version-/I03 215457.pdf.

2. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin -A-deficiency.

3. Garg P, Zaloga. Nutrition in critical care .New York :Mosby publishers,1994:177-90.

4. Mills J.P, Mills TA, Reicks M. Caregiver knowledge, attitudes and practice regarding vitamin-A Intake by Domician children. 2007 Jan; 3 (1): 58-68.

5. Njue MW, Five year follow up a food based vitamin-A deficiency disorder in Mbagathi district hospital 1994 Feb:112-142.

Received on 21.03.2017 Modified on 02.05.2017

Int. J. Nur. Edu. and Research. 2017; 5(4): 395-398.

DOI: 10.5958/2454-2660.2017.00084.9

A Descriptive Study to assess The Knowledge Regarding Vitamin A Deficiency Disorders among Mothers of Under Five Children in Selected Rural Area of District Ludhiana, Punjab (2016)