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A study on knowledge of mothers on lead poisoning among children at selected hospital, Mangalore

Lead is a highly toxic and poisonous metal. It can cause severe mental and physical impairment. Young children are most vulnerable because they absorb four to five times more ingested lead compared to adults from a given source. Children's curiosity behaviour and their age-appropriate hand-to-mouth behaviour results in their mouthing and swallowing lead-containing objects, such as contaminated soil or dust flakes from decaying lead-containing paints further increasing the risk of lead poisoning. Awareness about lead poisoning and a deeper understanding of its effect on children among caregivers can prevent lead poisoning. The aim of this study was to assess mothers' knowledge regarding lead poisoning in children. Descriptive study design and convenience sampling technique were used to select 99 mothers to assess their knowledge on lead poisoning among children. The data were collected with structured knowledge questionnaire. Findings show that 54.5% had average knowledge, 27.3% had good knowledge, 14.1% had very good knowledge and 4% had poor knowledge. Study reveals that nearly half of the mothers (54.5%) have average knowledge on lead poisoning which shows that there is a need for conducting health education and other awareness programmes on lead poisoning in the community.