Influence of Environmental Variables on Toddler's Growth and Social Maturity

Development of children has been considered as an integral part of the national development. Early childhood years are the significant periods in life which are the foundation for several complex behaviours. The key to man's health lies largely in his environment. Much of man's ill health can be traced to adverse environmental factors and man is often responsible for pollution of environment. A study to assess the growth and social maturity of the toddlers in relation to housing structure an dwelling proximity to mass waste dumping site revealed that growth and social maturity were not associated but there was significant relationship of housing structure as well as dwelling proximity to mass waste dumping site with growth and social maturity. The rural toddlers exhibited better growth in comparison to urban slum toddlers with reference to national and international norms. However the urban slum dwellers seem to attain social maturity at an early age. There was no significant difference in social maturity between them except in the Self Help Dressing Skill.