The study on achievement of motor milestones and associated factors among children in rural North India

BACKGROUND: Nearly 14% of children worldwide do not reach their developmental potential in early childhood. The early identification of delays in achieving milestones is critical. The World Health Organization (WHO) has developed normal age ranges for the achievement of motor milestones by healthy children. This study aimed to assess the gross motor developmental achievements and associated factors among children in rural India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted with rural children in North India. A pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. The median age at the time of the highest observed milestone was calculated and compared with the WHO windows of achievement. RESULTS: Overall, 221 children aged 4–18 months were included in the study. The median age of motor development exhibited a 0.1–2.1-month delay compared to the WHO median age of motor milestone achievement. The prevalence of the gross motor milestone achievements for each of the six milestones ranged from 91.6% to 98.4%. Developmental delay was observed in 6.3% of the children. After adjusting for different variables, children with birth order of second or more were found to be significantly associated with the timely achievement of gross motor milestones. CONCLUSION: The apparently healthy children of the rural area of Haryana achieved gross motor milestones with some delay with respect to the WHO windows of achievement. Although the median value of this delay was low, awareness campaigns should be implemented to promote timely identification of children with development delays.