الفهرس 
AcknowledgementOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
Introduction: Children are the biggest promise for the nation’s future. The family, community and government are responsible for their survival, development, and protection. Preschool child needs could be classified into biological, psychological, moral and educational needs. In addition to nutritional needs to grow. In April 2006, WHO released new standards for assessing the growth and development of children from birth to 5 years of age. WHO child growth standards include descriptions of the physical growth and ages of achievement of universally recognized gross motor milestones in healthy infants and children throughout the world. Aim of the study: It was conducted to assess growth and development of preschool children, and the association of malnutrition and some risk factors with stunting growth and delayed child development. The specific objectives of this study were to identify the relationship between stunting growth & delayed development and some risk factors such as SES, child’s maternal health, child health and child’s nutritional status. Furthermore, describe the anthropometric pattern of studied children. Population and methods: The data was collected through a personal interview with the participant’s caregiver. The study tool included a questionnaire which focused on socio-demographic characteristics, detailed reproductive and obstetric history of the mother, detailed medical history and detailed history of the nutritional status of the target children. The studied children were subjected to anthropometric measurements (weight, length/height, head circumference, chest circumference and mid-arm circumference) and calculation of BMI of the studied children. Growth monitoring and assessment were done through using WHO 2006 child growth standards, Length/height-for-age, weight-for-age and body mass index-for-age (birth to 5years z-scores) for boys and girls. Also, the studied children were subjected to examination of teeth eruption and assessment of child development according to the age included assessment of gross motor, fine motor, language and social developmental milestones. Results: from the results of the present study, it was concluded that there were sets of risk factors of preschool child growth and development, among these risk factors that found to be significant were socio-demographic characteristics of the preschool children that included (age and SES), maternal risk factors as gravidity, child medical history risk factors that included (infectious and allergic diseases, anemia and parasitic diseases) and nutritional risk factors as breast feeding during night, weaning age and frequency of foods or drinks introduction. Discussion: The period from birth to 5 years is critical for the development of language, cognitive, emotional, social, behavioral and physical skills. Early childhood is the most effective time to ensure that all children develop their full potential. Developmental disorders in children range from subtle learning disabilities to severe cognitive/motor impairment. Early recognition of developmental problems is important for timely intervention. Also, this study revealed that there were sets of risk factors of preschool child growth and development, among these risk factors that found to be significant were socio-demographic characteristics of the preschool children that included (age and SES), maternal risk factors as gravidity, child medical history risk factors that included (infectious and allergic diseases, anemia and parasitic diseases) and nutritional risk factors as breast feeding during night, weaning age and frequency of foods or drinks introduction. Conclusion: Malnutrition is a multi-dimensional entity. The nutritional status of children under the age of five is affected by different factors. The present study identifies certain risk factors which were found to be significantly higher in children with malnutrition compared to normal children.