Background and purpose: Hypotonia and delay in gross motor are usually seen in toddlers with celiac disease. This study aimed at investigating the effect of a developmental stimulation program on toddlers’ gross motor development.

Materials and methods: A clinical trial was performed in Ghaem and Doctor Sheikh hospitals, Mashhad, in which 50 children, aged 1-3 years, were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups (n=25 per group). Then, the developmental stimulation program was conducted in the intervention group for three seesions a week which lasted for 2 hr. Gross motor developmental age of the children was assessed by Bayley Scales of Infant and toddler Development, before the intervention, two and four months after the intervention. Data was analyzed using independent t-test, Mann-Whitney U and repeated measures in SPSS V.11.5.

Results: The mean age of the samples was 20.6±4.4. The median age of the gross motor in the intervention group (16±4.3 month) and control group (14.7±4.2 month) were not significantly different (P=0.312). After 2 months, there were significant differences in the average ages at which gross motor development were observed between the intervention (20.2±3.9 month) and control group (17.1±3.8 month) (P=0.015).

Conclusion: The developmental stimulation program was found to be effective on gross motor development in children, therefore, it could be administered in toddlers at risk of developmental delay such as those with celiac disease.

(Clinical Trials Registry Number: IRCT2015021521090N1)