| ABSTRACT | Volume 1, Issue 3, Pages 94-98 (May 2015)

Research Article KNOWLEDGE AMONG MOTHERS ON UNDER FIVE CHILDREN MALNUTRITION: A CROSS SECTIONAL SLUM BASED STUDY | Moonmoon Hoque | Md. Wadud Hossain | Mst. Nadira Parvin | Mohammed Abdur Rahman | and | Md Monoarul Haque |. The American Journal of Innovative Research and Applied Sciences. 2015; 1(3):94-98. | PDF FULL TEXT |

ABSTRACT Background: Under-five children form a bulk number of demographic force. They are the future of the nation. Nearly 177 million babies are malnourished around the world. Malnutrition is responsible for nearly 45% of deaths in under five children. Mothers can play vital role to save these babies. Objective: This study was conducted to assess knowledge of mothers about malnutrition of under-five children in a selected slum of Dhaka city. Methodology: It was cross sectional study. Three hundred mothers were purposively selected to take face to face interview. Pre-tested structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Level of knowledge was determined by pre-defined score. Result: Mean age of respondents was 19.55±3.0 years. Most of the respondents were under secondary school certificate level education. Nearly half of the respondents were housewife. Mean monthly family income of respondents was 156.84±29.53 USD. Majority of the respondents (76 %) had knowledge on weaning food. The study revealed that about half of the study subjects had knowledge on preparation of khichuri (mixed food). About half of the respondents stated that diarrhea was the consequence of malnutrition. Conclusion: Overall knowledge on malnutrition among mothers needs to be improved. Mass media should be widely used to increase the level of knowledge of mothers on malnutrition. Key words: Knowledge, Under five children, Slum