الفهرس 
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Abstract
Physical growth is a dynamic process that is characterized by
physiological changes and increase in the mass of body tissues in an
individual from infancy into adulthood. Periodic assessments should
be made to determine whether weight, height, length, and head
circumference are within normal limits for age and gender. It is an
important tool in the early detection of chronic disease in children
(Gokhale & Kirschner, 2003). Childhood under and overweight are an
important public health problem. Issues related to underweight and
overweight can negatively affect the physical growth and
psychological development of children )Best et al., 2010). Lack of
muscular strength, late maturation, decreased bone density, and low
work productivity later in life are possible consequences of
underweight (Pasricha & Biggs, 2010). Overweight or obese children
show high risks for hypertension, diabetes mellitus type 2, metabolic
disorder, and mental disorders (Stewart, 2015).
Community health nurse must recognize the characteristics
and lifestyles of the children and their families as well as the risk
factors of being underweight or overweight among the children.
Nurses can provide intervention to families and children regarding the
basic concepts of balanced nutrition and undesirable effect of
insufficient nutrition (Syahrul et al., 2016).
The study was conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of
early home based intervention on children’s physical growth from two
to five years.
The study was conducted at Maternal and Child health Centers
at Tanta city in Gharbiya Governorate. The experimental pre-post-testdesign was used in carrying out the study. The data collection was
completed between 1st
of May 2016 to the end of April 2017. The
study used a convenience sample of 100 children and their mothers.
The children were selected according to the following inclusion
criteria:
- Age of children was between 2-5 years.
- Free from any chronic diseases or handicap.
- Children should not follow a special medical regimen.Exclusion criteria:
- Having prematurity or low birth weight.
- Having endocrine disorder or cardiac disease.
- Having teeth decay.
Data was collected through the following:
Tool I- Structured interviewing questionnaire developed by researcher
was used, which including the following parts:
Part one: Sociodemographic data and Medical history of children’s
and their parent’s.
Part two: Nutrition assessment, it included 2 parts, it was used to
assess knowledge and practice.
Part three: Lifestyle assessment: It consisted of 2 parts, it was used to
assess sleeping habits, using TV/computer, and physical activity
knowledge and practice.
Tool II: Physiological measurements of children.
Tool III: 24 hours dietary recall.
Tool IV: Children’s eating behaviour questionnaire.The main findings of the study revealed the following:
Age of the studied sample ranged from 2-5 years old, with female
were more than males (52%, and 48%).
There was a highly significant difference between pre, post1and
post 2 intervention regarding nutritional knowledge.
There was statistically significant difference between pre and post
2 intervention regarding nutritional practice.
There was high significant difference between pre and post 2
intervention nutritional practice regarding BMI of children.
There was increase in percentage of normal BMI from 48% pre
intervention and 54% post 1 intervention to 79% post 2
intervention, while decrease in underweight from 34% pre
intervention and 31% post1intervention to 14% post2 intervention.
Also, decrease in percentage of obese from 12% pre intervention
to 4% post 2 intervention.
There was significant differences between pre and post 2
intervention regarding body mass index classification.
There was statistically significant improvement post 2 intervention
than pre intervention of BMI among male in all physiological
items.
There was significant difference between pre and post 2
intervention of each eating behavior domain except total slowness
in eating, the different was not significant.
There was highly statistically significant improvement post2
intervention than pre intervention of different BMI classes in main
intake of calories RDA, total protein, fat-B, total fat, carbohydrate.There was highly statistically significant improvement post2
intervention than pre intervention of different BMI classes in main
intake of calories, protein-A, protein-B, total protein, protein
RDA, fat-A, carbohydrate, and fiber.
There was highly statistically significant improvement post2
intervention than pre intervention of different BMI classes in main
intake of calcium RDA, phosphorus, phosphorus RDA, iron RDA,
sodium, sodium RDA, potassium, potassium RDA, zinc RDA,
magnesium, and cholesterol.
There was highly statistically significant improvement post2
intervention than pre intervention of different BMI classes in main
intake of vitamin-A, niacin, niacin RDA, and folate.
Based on the results of the current study it can be concluded
that:
The results of the present study revealed that, home based
intervention was effective in improving nutritional knowledge and
practices.
Finally, the current study highlight the positive effect of early
home based intervention on physical growth of children.
In the light of the present study findings, it can be
recommended that:
Recommendation for parents:
1. Implement mother class sessions for mothers attending
Maternal Child Centers on normal growth and development of
their children and how to detect any deviation from normal
ranges early.Underweight rate was drastically increased in the age group of
2-5 years, so in order to reduce the problem of underweight the
dietary modifications have to be done to ensure the increased
calorie and protein intake.
3. Health education for mothers about healthy eating patterns &
participating in physical activities.
4. Providing nutritional programs for mothers about good nutrition
and method of cooking a healthy food for preschool children.
5. Increase public health awareness about importance of follow up
and growth monitoring of growing children in improving child
nutrition status through mass media.
6. Integrate nutritional courses for mothers in the MCH centers
about good food habits and practices.
Recommendations for future research:
1- Future research should study the cultural factors that influence
food intake, selection and preparation attitudes toward health,
and activity.
2- This study can be applied on a large sample of children and at
different study setting to generalize its