Keywords
Growth Monitoring
Maternal Knowledge
Tertiary Hospital
How to Cite
Abstract
Introduction: Growth monitoring is an essential child health intervention for the early detection of growth faltering and under-nutrition. Mother’s knowledge plays a crucial role in the effective utilization of growth monitoring services.
Objectives: To assess mother’s knowledge of growth monitoring and identify associated factors among mothers of under-five children.
Methodology: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Kathmandu Medical College Teaching Hospital (KMCTH), Nepal from 9th December 2025 to 8th January 2026. A total of 384 mothers of children aged 0–59 months attending Paediatric outpatient and immunization clinics were recruited using consecutive sampling. Ethical clearance was obtained from Institutional Review Committee KMCTH (Ref no.03122025/06). Data were collected using structured questionnaire. Data were entered in Excel sheet and data analysis was done in SPSS version 26. Binary logistic regression analysis was performed to identify factors associated with good knowledge of growth monitoring and results were expressed as adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) followed by p- value 0.05 as statistically significant.
Results: Only 18% of mothers had good knowledge on growth monitoring of children. Mothers from joint families were more likely to have good knowledge compared to those from nuclear families (AOR=2.05; 95%CI:1.18–3.57). Higher monthly family income was also significantly associated with good knowledge (AOR=4.18;95% CI:1.95–8.93). Maternal age, education and occupation were not significantly associated after adjustment.
Conclusion: Knowledge of growth monitoring among mothers were sub-optimal. Family structure and household income were key determinants, highlighting the need for strengthened counseling and targeted educational interventions.
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