Prevalence of Mother’s Misconceptions and it’s Effect on Growth and Development of their Under Five Children in Rural Community of Western Rajasthan

Introduction: Early childhood is also marked by the attainment of developmental milestones age-specific functional skills that reflect progress in physical, cognitive, language, social, and emotional domains. The present study was done to assess the prevalence of misconception and their effect on growth and development in under five children among their mothers at Rural community in Jaipur, Rajasthan. Methodology: In this study, quantitative research approach and descriptive cross-sectional research design were selected for the present study. The study was conducted in at Jaipur Rajasthan. A total of 150 mothers of under five- year children’s in Jaipur, Rajasthan. The simple random sampling technique was used. The data collection was done with health of demographic profile, Misconception and behavior - Checklist and child growth and development measure. Results: The study found that most mothers of under-five children were young adults, educated up to Higher Secondary, homemakers, and from joint Hindu families, with most children fully immunized. Misconceptions were generally low to moderate, child health effects were mainly moderate, and maternal occupation significantly influenced both, with a weak positive correlation between misconceptions and effects. Conclusion: The study highlights that misconceptions regarding child feeding and health among mothers of under-five children are generally low to moderate, with a corresponding moderate impact on child health and growth. Maternal occupation emerged as a significant factor influencing both misconception and effect levels. A weak positive correlation between misconception and effect scores indicates that higher misconceptions may contribute to slightly greater adverse effects on child health. These findings emphasize the importance of implementing targeted health education and behaviour change interventions tailored to maternal occupational and educational contexts, aiming to reduce misconceptions and enhance child health outcomes.