Knowledge, attitude, and practice of parents regarding Vitamin A supplementation to children in Benghazi, Libya

• Published in: Ibnosina journal of medicine and biomedical sciences Vol. 10; no. 5; pp. 174 - 177
• Main Authors: Abdulmalek, Lubna, Benkhaial, Fatma
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: A-12, 2nd Floor, Sector 2, Noida-201301 UP, India Thieme Medical and Scientific Publishers Pvt. Ltd 01.10.2018; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Original Article; Benghazi; Vitamin A; campaign; under five; parents
• ISSN: 1947-489X; 1947-489X
• DOI: 10.4103/ijmbs.ijmbs_49_18

Background: According to the World Health Organization, Vitamin A deficiency can cause immune system depression in about 130 million preschool children and 7 million pregnant women mostly in developing countries and cause mortality risk up to 20%–30%. Objectives: We aimed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude, and practice of parents in Benghazi regarding the Vitamin A campaign. Subjects and Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study of 1390 parents attending maternal and child health clinics and pediatric clinics at six main polyclinics, in Benghazi in April and May 2018. Results: Most of the parents were younger than 40 years (71%). Mothers constitute 68% of the study population and 52% of the children were male. Half of the parents had higher education. Only 40% of the parents were having good knowledge about the benefits and food sources of Vitamin A. The coverage rate of Vitamin A supplementation among under-five children in the study was 66%. The main reason for not giving their children Vitamin A supplementation in this study was the lack of awareness of the campaign during the previous year. However, 88% of the interviewed parents had a positive attitude of regiving Vitamin A to their children in the next campaign. Conclusions: The overall knowledge level of Vitamin A among the parents was relatively low; hence, more efforts are needed to promote awareness about Vitamin A supplementation.