Prevalence of myths concerning growth and health of children among females of local population of Pakistan

Objectives: to analyse the prevalence of myths among women regarding growth and health-related issues of children,and to study the impact of basic demographic factors in this regard. methods: the educational,cross-sectional,descriptive study was carried out at the combined military hospital,peshawar,pakistan,from january 2016 to january 2017. it comprised women reporting to paediatric outpatient clinics,and the subjects were selected using convenience sampling. a self-designed questionnaire was used which contained demographic details and 15 closed-ended questions encompassing common myths concerning child health-related issues. total answers given by a client as yes (beliefs in myths) were grouped as >50% yes or <50% yes; and was cross-tabulated with independent variables. spss21was used for statistical analysis. results: of the 422 subjects,301(71.3%) believed in the existence of ‘garam’ foods. overall,278(65.9%) subjects had <50% yes,and 144(34.1%) had >50% yes answers. three most commonly believed myths were: a neonate must be tied for better growth 281(66.6%),‘garam’ food should not be given to children in summers 225(53.3%),and diseases like ‘kala yarqaan’ are transmitted through lactation 223(52.8%). there was a significant impact of education (p<0.001) and regional background (p=0.006) on predilection for harbouring myths. there was no significant impact of age (p=0.415),marital status (p=0.790) or socio-economic class (p=0.196) on the matter. conclusion: significant prevalence of myths pertinent to children’s health-related issues among ladies was observed. the lacunae identified must be aptly addressed at clinical level as well as via lectures and seminars. © 2017,pakistan medical association. all rights reserved.