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Introduction: Normal growth of children is an index of their health. So growth monitoring is a routine service provided in most health care systems. This study has been performed in order to assess the effectiveness of growth monitoring regarding incidence of failure to thrive (FTT) and head circumference. Materials and methods: There was a historical cohort study in which the children who were 12 -14 months old at the time of study under the coverage of health service of Aboozar health center, Tehran medical university, were evaluated. We used linear, logistic and Cox modeling for detecting statistical association of the distinguished variables. Results: There was no significant association between number of growth monitoring visits and the size of head circumference (linear model). In addition to, there was a significant association between the number of growth monitoring visits and incidence of FTT (logistic model). Conclusion: According to our data, it seems that growth monitoring has a preventing role in growth of failure to thrive children.

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Introduction: Hydronephrosis in infancy and childhood is a frequent urinary malformation. We were unable to find any reports concerning rate and causes of hydronephrosis in Iranian children therefore, we decided to evaluate it, in under 12 years old children. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive study done in a 9-month period starting from Novemger 2004. All children under 12 years old who had visited Amir Kabir hospital of Arak for UTI or FTT were enlisted and an ultrasonography was requested. If hydronephrosis was detected, then a VCUG was performed. For those with normal VCUG results, if hydronephrosis persisted in the follow up sonography, the next step was an IVP or DTPA scan. Results: 65 patients (39 girls and 26 boys) were evaluated for hydronephrosis. 18.5% presented with FTT , 75.4% with UTI and 6.1% with FTT+UTI. The most prevalent causes of hydronephrosis were VUR (40%) and UPJO (23.5%). Grade I hydronephrosis was the most prevalent form (65%), however when VUR was present , it was mostly grades III or IV (27% and 19% respectively). 70% of girls and 31% of boys had VUR and the average age at the time of diagnosis was 2-3 years. Conclusion: Vesicouretero reflux and UPJO are the most prevalent causes of hydronephrosis and must be evaluated in children with hydronephrosis.

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Background: One of the common and important public health problems is failure to thrive in during childhood .The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between health belief model structures with mothers' performance in preventihg growth retardation in children aged 1-5 years in Shazand city in 2014.

Materials and Methods: In this analytical and cross-sectional study, 202 mothers with children aged one to five years in the Shazand city were selected by random sampling. The data were collected by using a researcher-developed valid and reliable questionnaire by self-report method. The questionnaire included demographic characteristics of the mothers, the maternal practice cheklist and health belief model dimensions. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS20 T-test, Chi-square, correlation, ANONV and regression.

Results: The mean age of subjects was 28.76±5.28 years and a mean age of children was 26.49±14.74 months. Most common level of education for mothers was diploma (76.7%). The mean score of mothers' behavior was 70.65. Among the structures, self- efficacy had the largest score(69.8) and external practice guide had the lowest (38.91). In regression analysis, for predicting behavior by health belief model stuctures, self efficacy, perceived benefits and barriers were main predictors of behavior that predicted 10% of behavior changes(R²=0.101).

Conclusion: The results of this study reveale that the design of educational interventions should be based on self-efficacy, perceived benefits and perceived barriers as the most important predictors of maternal behavior.

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Abstract

Background: One of the common and important health problems is failure to thrive in childhood. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of education on preventive behaviors of failure to thrive in mothers with children based on health belief model.

Materials and Methods: This study is an interventional one in which 100 mothers with children one to five years involved (samples divided into two case and control groups, each of 50) sampling was done by a simple random method. For collecting information, a researcher-made questionnaire based on the health belief model and performance check list were used. Then, case group was trained for one month. 3 months after training, data were gathered and analyzed by Spss20 software. In addition to descriptive statistics, tests such as Chi-square, paired t-test and independent T-test were used.

Results: The mean age of case and control was 29.98±5.51 and 25.35±5.30 years old, respectively. The average age of children was 23.31 ± 13.14 and 27.55 ± 14.01months, respectively. Before the intervention, no significant difference was seen between groups. The average score in case group before intervention was as: knowledge(31.87±14.24), perceived susceptibility(64.23±5.86), perceived severity(64.41±9.34), perceived benefits(61.75±6.79), perceived barriers(67.91±8.14), self-efficacy(68.00±7.87), cues to action(44.53±6.82) and action(70.00±9.77). However, after the intervention, significant differences between groups in all variables were obserred.

Conclusion: According to the results, education based on health belief model is recommended for promoting preventive behaviors of failure to thrive.