INTRODUCTION:

Vitamins are micronutrients, essential for body function. They are required by body in very small amount, and are not synthesized in body so, must be provided by food. Vitamins are available in fat-soluble and water-soluble form¹. Vitamin A refers to three preformed compounds that is Retinol, Retinaldehyde and Retinoic acid these active forms of vitamin A exist in only animal products. Vitamin A is an essential nutrient, a substance necessary for survival that we must take in through diet and supplementation². Vitamin A found in animal products are eggs, liver, meat, fish liver oil and dairy products like butter, cheese whole milk and in human milk. The liver is the main storage site for vitamin A in both animals and humans². The plant food sources of pro-vitamin (carotenes) are cheapest source of vitamin A found in yellow fruits like papaya, mango, musk melon, yellow vegetables like carrot, pumpkin and green leafy vegetables such as spinach and amaranth. The carotenoids are present in the vegetables such as beta, alpha, and gamma carotenes and are absorbed in small intestine on conversion to vitamin A³. In human body Vitamin A has separate role in vision, contributing to the production of retinol pigments which are needed for vision in dim light. Vitamin A deficiency is seen more commonly in under five children^4.

NEED FOR STUDY:

Vitamins are substances essential for the maintenance of normal metabolic functions they are required for metabolism of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Vitamins are widely used as dietary supplements. Vitamin A deficiency is one of the most important causes of preventable childhood blindness and contributes to morbidity and mortality from infections, especially in children and it also increases the severity and mortality risk of infections like diarrhoea and measles, even before the onset of xerophthalmia.⁵

The prevalence of vitamin A deficiency has been recognized as a public-health nutritional problem in developing countries, which could be attributed to limited access to foods containing pre-formed vitamin A (Retinol) from animal- based food sources and poor consumption of foods containing beta-carotene due to poverty and food choices. As per the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates, approximately one- third of the world’s pre-school children are vitamin A deficient and most of them live-in South- East Asia (91.5 million) with highest proportion of the world’s Vitamin A deficiency children are from India. Similarly, West Jr also reported that the largest number of sub-clinical vitamin A deficient children lives in India and 40% of all pre-school children with xerophthalmia (pathologic dryness of the conjunctiva and cornea) in the developing world live in India⁶. Thus, vitamin A deficiency continues to be a major public health nutritional problem in India, and as reported by the community-based studies, the prevalence of both clinical and sub-clinical Vitamin A deficiency was high among pre-school children in rural India.⁷

OBJECTIVE:

Other objective: -1

To assess the pre-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children.

To assess the post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children.

Other objective: -2

To compare the pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children after video assisted teaching programme.

To find out the association between knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children with selected demographic variables.

HYPOTHESIS:

Primary Hypothesis:

H01: There will be no statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children.

H1: There will be a statistically significant difference between pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children.

Other Hypothesis:

H02: There will be no statistically significant association between pre-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children with selected demographic variables.

H2: There will be a statistically significant association between pre-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children with selected demographic variables.

METHODOLOGY:

Research approach/design:

In this study one group pre-test one group post-test research design is used .The pre-test and post-test design is the type of pre-experimental design.

P1 X P2

[P1: Pre-test assessment of knowledge, X: Experimental treatment (Video assisted teaching),

P2: Post-test reassessment of knowledge.]

Variables under Study:

Independent Variable:

According to Polit and Hungler, Independent variable is Video assisted teaching on vitamin ‘A’ deficiency. The effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable was studied.

Dependent Variable:

According to Polit and Hungler, Dependent Variable is Knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under five children.

Setting of the Study:

Setting is the physical location and condition in which data collection takes place.

The study was conducted in the urban area in anganwadi after taking permission from urban health centre.

Population:

In this study the population consists of all mothers of under-five children.

Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria:

Inclusion criteria-

· Mothers of children age group 0-5yrs

· Mothers of under-five children willing to participate in the study.

· Mothers of under-five children available at the time of study.

· Mothers who are able to understand Marathi, Hindi, or English.

Exclusion criteria

· Partial or complete visual and auditory deficit.

Withdrawal criteria:

· Sickness of self and family.

· Migration to another place.

· Out of station during study.

· Mothers can be withdrawal from the study if they wish to be discontinued.

Table: 1 Content wise mean assessment of pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding Vitamin ‘A’ Deficiency among mothers of under-five children. N=60

Knowledge area	Pre test		Post test
Knowledge area	Mean	SD	Mean	SD
Introduction and meaning of vitamin ‘A’	1.25	0.968	2.63	1.134
Importance of vitamin ‘A	1.77	0.909	2.45	0.928
Source of vitamin ‘A’	3.55	1.126	5.12	1.303
Diseases of vitamin ‘A’ deficiency.	.8333	0.76284	1.57	0.722
Prevention of vitamin ‘A’ deficiency.	2.75	1.019	3.40	0.785

The above table shows the, Content wise distribution of average knowledge score.

In pre-test average samples score 1.25 in introduction and meaning of vitamin ‘A’ then 1.77 in importance of vitamin ‘A, 3.55 in source of vitamin ‘A’, 0.8333 in diseases of vitamin ‘A’, 2.75 in Prevention of vitamin ‘A’, Were in post-test the average scores are 2.63 in introduction and meaning of vitamin ‘A’, 2.45 in importance of vitamin ‘A, 5.12 in source of vitamin, 1.57 in diseases of vitamin ‘A’, 3.40 in Prevention of vitamin ‘A’.

Table: 2 Descriptive analysis of mean, median and mode of pre-test and post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mother of under-five children. N=60

Central Tendency	Knowledge
Central Tendency	Pre test	Post test
Mean	10.15	15.17
Median	10.00	15.00
Mode	9	15

In this study the, central tendency of the data pre-test vs post-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency. It shows that the overall Mean scorein pre-test is 10.15 and in post-test overall mean score is 15.17.The overall median score in pre-test is 10.00 and overall median score in post-test is 15.00. The overall mode score in pre-test is 10 and overall mode score in post-test is 15. As compared to pre-test and post-test values of Mean, Median and mode has improved in post-test. This suggests that knowledge has improved after distribution of video assisted teaching regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency.

Table: 3 Effectiveness of video assisted teaching on overall knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children in selected urban area.

Pre-Test and Post Test Overall Knowledge Scores	Mean	Std. Deviation	Std. Error Mean	t- value

Knowledge Regarding Vitamin ‘A’ Deficiency Among Mothers Of Under-Five Children.	-5.017	3.301	.426	-11.77

Overall knowledge scores of pre-test and post test comparison using paired t test.

The calculated t-value 11.77 is more than tabulated t-value 2.02 for the 0.05 level of significance, thus null hypothesis is rejected and research hypothesis is accepted.

Table: 4 Association between pre-test knowledge regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency among mothers of under-five children with demographic variables.

Variable	Pre-Test Knowledge					Total	D(f)	Chi-square test	P-Value	Significant at 5% level 0.05 level.
Variable	Very Poor (1-5)	Poor (06-10)	Average (11-15)	Good (16-20)	Very Good (21-25)	Total	D(f)	Chi-square test	P-Value	Significant at 5% level 0.05 level.
Age Group
19-25 Years	00	20	12	00	00	32	3	2.589	0.460	Accepting Ho as 2.589<7.82 non-significant
25-31 Years	00	11	10	00	00	21
31-37 Years.	00	05	01	00	00	06
37 Years and above	00	01	00	00	00	01
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60
Religion
Hindu	00	33	18	00	00	51	2	1.362	0.506	Accepting Ho as 1.362<5.99 non-significant
Muslim	00	03	04	00	00	07
Christian	00	00	00	00	00	00
Any other	00	01	01	00	00	02
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60
Education
Primary Education	00	12	07	00	00	19	3	5.589	0.133	Accepting Ho as 5.589<7.82 non-significant
Secondary Education	00	23	11	00	00	34
Graduate	00	00	03	00	00	03
Post-graduate	00	02	02	00	00	04
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60
Family income
Below 1 Lac/year	00	30	17	00	00	47	3	1.758	0.624	Accepting Ho as 1.758<7.82 non-significant
Between 1-2 Lac/year.	00	03	03	00	00	06
Between 2-3 Lac/year.	00	03	01	00	00	04
Above 3lac/year.	00	01	02	00	00	03
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60
Type of family
Nuclear family	00	06	04	00	00	10	3	1.653	0.647	Accepting Ho as 1.653<7.82 non-significant
Extended family.	00	14	06	00	00	20
Joint family.	00	14	09	00	00	23
Single parent family	00	03	04	00	00	07
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60
Source of health information.
TV, radio	00	19	11	00	00	30	3	0.660	0.883	Accepting Ho as 0.660<7.82 non-significant
Health personnel.	00	06	05	00	00	11
Internet- apps	00	10	05	00	00	15
Newspaper, Magazine	00	02	02	00	00	04
Total	00	37	23	00	00	60

Interpretation:

The demographic variables of samples like Age, Religion, Mother’s education, Family income, Types of family, and Source of health information, shown non-significant as calculated χ²is less than tabulated χ²value, for vitamin ‘A’ deficiency knowledge regarding accept the Null hypothesis by stating demographic variables was not associated with to pre- test knowledge scores.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY:

· The mothers of children age group 0-5yrs

· The study cannot be generalized due to small sample size.

· It is limited to the particular location.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

· The study can include more areas of knowledge related aspects.

· Practices can be observed directly.

· The study used in comparative study

· Study can be generalized if the sample size will be limited

CONCLUSION:

· This study has helped to assess the knowledge regarding mothers of under-five children in selected urban area regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency. Knowledge of samples were displayed low 61.7% and average 38.3% in pre-test but in post-test it has been improved to displayed low 5% Average 46.7% and good 48.3% categories.

· The video assisted teaching was an effective tool to improve the knowledge of samples regarding vitamin ‘A’ deficiency.

· There are no statically significance association seen in the demographic variables such as Age, Religion, Education, type of family, family income, and sources of health information.

· This study reveals that, after assessing the knowledge of mothers of under-five children, it is found necessary to improve their knowledge regarding vitamin A deficiency through video assisted teaching and evaluate whether it is effective in post-test assessment.

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Received on 26.09.2022 Modified on 22.11.2022

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2023; 11(1):73-77.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2023.00016