Assessment of growth monitoring activities under Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) in western Rajasthan

Abstract

Background: In India, the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme represents one of the most unique programs for early childhood development by network of “Anganwadi Center” (AWC), which provides integrated services comprising supplementary nutrition, immunization, health checkup, referral services, preschool education, and health and nutrition education. Growth monitoring by the field level worker called anganwadi worker (AWW) is an excellent tool for assessing the growth and development of a child and for detecting the earliest changes in growth to enable one to take appropriate action at the earliest. Objective: To assess the knowledge and practices of AWWs regarding growth monitoring activities and study the difficulties faced by AWWs in growth monitoring activity. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in five randomly selected AWCs to witness the process of growth monitoring by AWW. Data were compiled, and charts were made using Microsoft Excel. Analysis was done using SPSS software, version 21. Result: Of the 543 children, 283 (52.11%) were male and 260 (47.89%) were female subjects. All AWWs were aware of the colors in the growth chart but how to mark the absentee period in growth chart was unknown to all. The practice of weighing the child was not ideally followed by 80% of anganwadis. Approximately, 80% were showing upward trend in growth chart. Conclusion: The study concludes that AWWs show inadequate knowledge about the growth monitoring and growth charts. The difficulties faced by the anganwadis are also a hindrance in giving their best in field. So, both the knowledge and the problems should be addressed on time in the benefits of the children of the nation.