Early childhood development and iranian parents' knowledge: A qualitative study

Abstract

Background:Early childhood is the most important step throughout the lifespan and it is a critical period continuing to the end of 8-year-old. Mothers’ knowledge is one of the important aspects of child development. The goals of this study were to determine the situation of knowledge in Iranian parents about the concept and the importance of early childhood development (ECD) and determining the sources of parental knowledge about ECD from the perspective of parents and grandparents.Methods:This qualitative study was conducted based on the directional content analysis in 2016. The purposive sampling method is utilized to select 24 participants among parents and grandparents in Tehran. The inclusion criteria consisted of speaking in Persian and having a child or grandchild <3-year-old. Data were collected through four focus group discussions and four individual interviews.Results:Iranian parental knowledge about integrative ECD is not enough, their knowledge about motor development and speech and language are relatively better, about cognitive development is little and socialemotional is very little. They said parents and other caregivers influence the process of children's development. Parents’ knowledge resources about ECD included human resources, physical resources, virtual space, and the media. According to the majority of participants, “pediatricians are the most reliable source of parents’ knowledge about ECD” even though the main focus of pediatricians is on treating diseases, physical health, and growth of children.Conclusions:According to the results, the knowledge of Iranian parent is not enough about ECD; therefore, actions must be taken to increase their knowledge in these domains. Parents look for reliable and valid sources to enhance their knowledge and they rely the most on pediatricians in this regard. Therefore, more studies on assessing parents’ knowledge in community and the practical methods for knowledge promotion in this field is recommended.

Assessing parents’ awareness about children’s “first thousand days of life”: a descriptive and analytical study

“…The previous studies have been done on other aspects of the “first thousand days of life”. A study [ 26 ] examined parents’ knowledge about the concept of the early development of children and showed that the knowledge of Iranian parents about child development is insufficient for parenting. Several studies [ 27 – 29 ] have addressed the effect of educational interventions on parents’ knowledge and awareness about parenting.…”

Multi-State Analysis of the Impact of Childhood Starvation on the Healthy Life Expectancy of the Elderly in China

“…Life course theory has gradually become an important paradigm for the study of elderly health, emphasizing the long-term impact of life events in critical periods on the health outcomes of the elderly. Existing research shows that childhood is a critical period of growth and development ( 2 ). At this time, negative nutrition, and health shocks experienced may change the original development track of the individual and thus affect the health trajectory of their entire life course.…”

Multi-State Analysis of the Impact of Childhood Starvation on the Healthy Life Expectancy of the Elderly in China

“…Life course theory has gradually become an important paradigm for the study of elderly health, emphasizing the long-term impact of life events in critical periods on the health outcomes of elderly. Existing research [2] show that childhood is a critical period of growth and development. At this time, negative nutrition and health shocks experienced may change the original development track of the individual and thus affect the health trajectory of their entire life course.…”

“…However, the probability of disability-health recovery showed a downward trend with age, whereas the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood were lower than those without starvation(P<0.05). (2) For the elderly who experienced starvation in childhood, the health indicators of the average life expectancy, healthy life expectancy, and healthy life expectancy proportion accounted for the remaining life were lower than those of the elderly without childhood starvation (P<0.05).Conclusions: The negative impact of childhood starvation on health through the life course till old age, has a persistent negative cumulative effect on the quantity and quality of life for the elderly population; Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the nutritional status of…”