RESUMO
Introduction: The physical health of a child is important because it is associated with the mental and social development of children. Mothers are the first care providers of their children. One of the ways to achieve reduction of underfive mortality is to educate the mothers on matters pertaining to child care. Study objectives were to assess the knowledge of Revised Immunization Schedule among mothers of underfive children, to assess the effectiveness of structured teaching programme on knowledge regarding Revised Immunization Schedule among mothers of underfive children and to find the association between pre-test knowledge score of mother of underfive children regarding revised immunization schedule and selected demographic variables. Material and Methods: The research approach used for the study was evaluative approach. The study was conducted in primary health centre, Morgiri, at Patan, Maharashtra, India. Using one group pre-test post-test design. Non-probability Purposive sampling technique was used for selecting 30 mothers of underfive children. On the 1st day Structured knowledge questionnaire was used for collecting data and planned teaching programme on child abuse and neglect was conducted and followed by post test on the 7th day. The data collected, tabulated and analyzed in terms of objectives of the study using descriptive and inferential statistics. Result: Results shows that Out of 30 mothers in pre test 18(60%) had average knowledge, and 12 (40%) of mothers had poor knowledge where as in post test 25 (83%) had good and 5 (17%) mothers had average level of knowledge. Pre test mean knowledge score and standard deviation was 17.4 ±3.54 which increased in post test to 29.5 ± 2.77 and paired ‘t’ test value was 26.404 and p value is < 0. 01. The result shows that there was a significant association between knowledge of mothers and Age (χ2 = 4) p (<0.005) level. Conclusion: The study concludes that structured teaching programme on revised Immunization schedule was Effective in Improving the Level of knowledge among the mothers of underfive children.
RESUMO
Reduction in prevalence of underweight children (under five years of age) has been included as an indicator for one of the targets to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger (Goal 1) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The most recent MDG report of 2012 indicates that the target of reducing extreme poverty by half has been reached five years ahead of the 2015 deadline but close to one third of children in Southern Asia were underweight. In India, at the historical rate of decline the proportion of underweight children below 3 years, required to be reduced to 26% by 2015, is expected to come down only to about 33%. With barely 3 years left for achieving MDGs, the level of commitment to reduce child undernutrition needs to be gauged and effectiveness of current strategies and programmes ought to be reviewed. Undernutrition in children is not affected by food intake alone; it is also influenced by access to health services, quality of care for the child and pregnant mother as well as good hygiene practices. Would the scenario be different if child undernutrition was a part of Goal 4 of MDGs? What difference it would have made in terms of strategies and programmes if reduction in undernutrition in children underfive was a target instead of an indicator? It is time for nutrition to be placed higher on the development agenda. A number of simple, cost-effective measures to reduce undernutrition in the critical period from conception to two years after birth are available. There is a need for choosing nutrition strategies relevant in Indian context. Experiences from other countries should lead India toward innovative nutritional strategies to reduce underfive undernutrition in the country- that too on a fast track.