Parenting children under three years of age in a south Indian setting

Shibi Thomas1, Chellarani Vijayakumar, Rajeshwari Siva

  • 1Little Flower College of Nursing, Kerala, India.

Pediatric Nursing
|November 29, 2007
PubMed

A cross sectional study design to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers regarding parenting of children less than 3 years of age was conducted with 120 mothers from both rural and urban areas of South India. Mothers were interviewed in their homes using a structured questionnaire. The nutritional status of their children was assessed by Anthropometry IAP (Indian Academy of Paediatrics) classification and Waterloo's classification were used to assess their children's nutritional status, and the Thiruvananthapuram Development Screening Chart [TDSC] was used to assess the children's development. The majority of mothers had moderately adequate knowledge regarding parenting. The mother's level of education had a significant association (p < 0.05) with their practice and attitude. The study brought out the association between sociodemographic variables and knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers and its impact on growth and development of their children. Results provide direction for nurses in developing better life style education and parenting training programs.

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