CARE OF PRE SCHOOL

CHILD AND CHILD HEALTH

PROBLEMS
 SHEFALI RAWAT
 ROLL NO. 114
WHO IS A PRE SCHOOL CHILD

 Children between 1-4 yrs of age are considered as

pre school child or toddlers

 Pre school child has become a focus for medical

social welfare activities and their death rate is
considered a significant indicator of the social
situation in a country.
CHARACTERSTICS OF PRE SCHOOL
AGE
 Large numbers
 Mortality
 Morbidity
 Growth and development
 Accessibility
 Prevention in childhood of health problems in
adult life
LARGE NUMBERS
 Pre school age children represent 9.7% of the general
population in india.
 Majority ofthese lives in rural and tribal areas and urban
slums.
 Their development is important for the total national
development as they are the human resources of future.

MORTALITY
 Pre school age mortality in india is 2.3% of the total
deaths.
 Deaths are mainly due to infection or malnutrition.
 MORBIDITY
 Children are usually victims of PEM accompanied by reatarded
growth and development.
 Prevalance of severe PEM ranges between 5-6% and mild PEM is about
40%.
 PEM is often associated with other nutritional deficiencies such as
anaemia,xerophthalmia etc.
 In the existing environmental conditions diarrhoea, skin infections,
eye infections, measles, intestinal parasitic infestations are common.
 Around 5% of them shows signs of vitamin A deficiency.
 Accidents are also frequent esp. burns and trauma from home
accidents or traffic accidents.
 Some diseases do not kill the victims but cause serious disability like
blindness, paralysis while some manifest later in life eg. Heart
disease and mental retardation.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
 First 5-6 yrs of life are very important for growth and development
 Any adverse influences during this period may result in severe limitations in their
development

ACCESSIBILITY
 Toddlers are hard to access and therefore special inputs are needed like day care centres,
play group centres, childrens club.

PREVENTION IN CHILDHOOD OF HEALTH PROBLEMS IN ADULT LIFE

 Certain events in early life can affect the health in adult life and therefore can be
prevented by early action.
 Ex. Dental problems in adulthood or treatment of streptococcal infections can prevent
rheumatic heart disease.
 Certain congenital anamolies can lead to orthopaedic conditions like congenital dislocation
of hip.
CHILD HEALTH PROBLEMS

 LOW BIRTH WEIGHT

 MALNUTRITION
 INFECTIONS AND PARASITOSIS
 ACCIDENT AND POISONING
 BEHAVIOURAL PROBLEMS
LOW BIRTH WEIGHT
MALNUTRITION
 Scarcity of suitable foods, lack of purchasing, traditional beliefs
leads to insufficient balanced diet resulting in malnutrition.
 In India, national family health survey 2015-16 showed chronic
and acute undernutrition in 7 states Haryana, Karnataka,
Maharashtra, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, goa.
 In India 35.7 % children under 5 are underweight, 7.5% have
moderate to severe wasting and 38.4 % moderate to severe
stunting.
 Malnutrition makes the child more susceptible to infection ,
slower recovery, increased mortality. Undernourished children do
not grow to their full potential or present with micronutrient or
vitamin deficiencies.
 Exclusive breast feeding in first 6 months is very important.
 Specific nutritional defeciencies
A) PROTEIN ENERGY MALNUTRITION
 Characterised by low birth weight if mother is malnourished, poor growth
in children and high level of mortality.
 Low height for age reflects cumulative effects of undernutrition and
infectionssince birth or even before.
 Low weight for height reflects current severe undernutrition or disease.

A) MICRONUTRIENT MALNUTRITION
 It refers to the group of conditions caused due to deficiency of essential
vitamins and minerals such as vit A, calcium, iodine, iron, zinc.
 Vit A deficiency is the most common cause of preventable childhood
blindness worldwide . Greater chances of developing xerophthalmia
resulting in severe , blinding corneal destruction
 Most common in age of 6 months – 6 yrs since their requirements are also
more.
 Iodine deficiency leads to still births, mental retardation, physical
stunning, deaf mute, paralysis.
INFECTIONS AND PARASITOSIS

 Leading childhood diseases are diarrhoea, respiratory

infections, measles, diptheria , pertussis, tuberculosis.
 Of 4 million deaths/yr due to acute respiratory infections
a quarter are linked to malnutrition and another quarter
to measles, pertussis, malaria, aids.
 During 2015 9%deaths of under 5 were due to diarrhoea,
13%due to ARI, 5% due to malaria and 1% due to measles.
 Prevention and treatment of childrens illnesses may
interrupt the transmission of infection in the community.
OTHER FACTORS AFFECTING CHILD
HEALTH

MATERNAL HEALTH
 Child health is adversely affected if;
 Mother is malnourished
 She is under 18yrs or over 35yrs
 If last child was born less than 2 yrs ago
 If she already has >4 births
 If she is deprived of basic pregnancy care.
Socioeconomic circumstances
 Physical and intellectual development of children varies
with the family’s Socioeconomic circumstances.
 Underpriveledged children are more likely to have less
pshychomotor and intellectual performances
 Parents education, literacy, profession, income, housing,
poverty plays a role

ENVIRONMENT
 Environmental factors play a great role in determining
morbidity and mortality such as
 Insufficient supply of safe water.
 Inadequate disposalof human excreta
 Abundance of insects or other disease carriers.