A Comparative Study to Assess the Nutritional Status of Preschool Childern in Selected Rural and Urban Areas, Of Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab

ABSTRACTMalnutrition is like an iceberg, most people in the developing countries live under the burden of malnutrition. Pregnant women, nursing mother and children are particularly vulnerable to the effects of malnutrition. Malnutrition is widely prevalent among weaned infants and preschool children. The aim of the present study is to assess the nutritional status of urban and ruralpreschool children.OBJECTIVES (1) To Assess the nutritional status of rural area preschool children. (2) To assess the nutritional status of urban area preschool children. (3) To compare nutritional status among rural and urban area preschool children. (4) To determine associations between nutritional status of rural and urban preschool children with selected socio demographic variables. (5) To develop pamphlet regarding recommended daily allowance for preschool children. DESIGN: Non experimental comparative design was selected for the study. APPROACH: A descriptive survey approach was used. SUBJECTS: The participants were 120 preschool children, 60 from saunti (rural) and 60 from gobindgarh (urban), Punjab. METHOD: A purposive sampling technique was used to select the sample for study. DATA COLLECTION TOOL: An interview schedule and observation check list was used to collect data from the subjects. DATAANALYSIS: The obtained data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interpreted in terms of objectives and hypothesis of the study. The level of significance was set 0.05 levels. RESULTS:The researcher found the rural preschool children nutritional status 66.7% (40) had moderate nutritional status and 33.3% (20) had adequate nutritional status. Regarding urban preschool children nutritional status, 30.0% (18) had moderate nutritional status, and 70.0% (42) had adequate nutritional status. CONCLUSION: From the analysis report the researcher concluded that there is significant difference between nutritional status of urban and rural preschool children and distributed pamphlet regarding RDA to mothers of preschool children with a view to improve the nutritional status.