Physical and motor development of preschool beneficiaries of ICDS scheme of rural Jammu

Pages: 189-194
Sarika Manhas (P.G. Department of Home Science (Human Development), University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K)
Tarannum Tratha (P.G. Department of Home Science, University of Jammu, Jammu, J&K)

The present study assessed the physical and motor development of preschool aged child beneficiaries of ICDS scheme belonging to rural Jammu. The sample for the study comprised 80 children (40 boys & 40 girls) in the age group of 3-5 years belonging to middle socioeconomic strata families of Bishnah Block of Jammu District. Multistage Sampling technique was used to select the sample for the study. The developmental status of sample children was assessed through Anthropometric Measurement (Height, Weight, & BMI) and the adapted versions of Age and Staged-3rd Edition Questionnaires (Square & Bricker, 2009). The results reveal that the total mean age of sample children was 3.65±0.657 years (for boys 3.10±3.3 years & for girls was 4.20±0.405 years). Most of the sample children were second and third born in their families and majority of them had one or more siblings. Majority of the sample children had normal Height, Weight and BMI indicating that in spite of their deprived living conditions most of pre-schoolers had normal physical development. Though most of the children had normal fine motor development but majority of them had delayed gross motor development.