Preschool children's knowledge about health and safety in Turkey

Objective: To evaluate the health and safety knowledge of preschool children. Methods: The descriptive study was conducted in the Aegean Region of Western Turkey from November 2009 to February 2010, and comprised children aged 4-6 years attending five nursery schools. The data-collection period lasted 3 months and the subjects were enrolled from class lists using random sampling technique. Preschool Child Health and Safety Knowledge Assesment Form and a sociodemographic data form were used for data collection. Results: Of the 298 children, 146(49%) were girls and 152(51%) were boys. Overall mean age was 5.20 +/- 0.75 years Less than 75% correct answers were given to 5 items on the safety subsection, and 1 item on the health promotion subsection. As the age of the children increased, the level of knowledge also increased (p<0.05). Conclusion: Healthcare professionals have the responsibility to keep any eye on prechool childern's health and safety knowledge for devising effective ways to make them knowledgeable adults.