Murugan, Rajalakshmi (PhD)Abate, Abebe2018-07-042023-11-062018-07-042023-11-062015-02http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/6480Background- For centuries, sunlight has been used for therapeutic purposes. Parents still expose their infants to sunlight to treat neonatal jaundice, mostly to supply vitamin D for bone development as a consequence of health beliefs. Objective- The main objective of this study was to assess knowledge, practice and factors affecting sunlight exposure of infants among mothers attending governmental health facilities in Debre Markos Town, East Gojjam, Ethiopia, 2014. Method- Cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among mothers attending in under five and immunization clinics of all government health facilities in Debre Markos Town by taking a total sample size of 359 from December 1 to 30, 2014. Probability sampling method was used for the selection of individual respondents. Data was entered using EPI data version 3.1 and analyzed by SPSS version 16. Binary and multiple logistic regressions were done to show the association of dependent and independent variables. Results - Out of 359 respondents identified for the study 96% (n=345) were responded for the interview. From the total respondents 60% and 55.4% of them had poor knowledge and poor practice about sunlight exposure respectively. In multivariate analysis mothers’ educational status had significant association with both knowledge and practice of sunlight exposure of infants. Conclusion and Recommendations: The findings in this study showed mothers had poor knowledge and poor practice about sunlight exposure. Therefore, mothers need to be educated about the importance of sunlight exposure. Key words= Mothers’ knowledge, Rickets, Sunlight exposure, Vitamin D, Vitamin D deficiencyenMothers’ knowledgeRicketsSunlight exposureVitamin DVitamin D deficiencyThesis