Abstract: The rapid increase in women’s participation in the economic activity has led to an increase in reliance on alternative child care for young children, including both child care centres and at-home care. The present study was undertaken to determine the influence of non-maternal caregivers on morbidity profile; dietary intake; and cognitive, motor and language development of preschoolers looked after by caregivers at day care centres and nannies at home. Eighty preschool children between 2 - 6 years of age; 40 looked after by caregivers at day care centres (DCC) and 40 by nannies at home (NH) constituted the study sample. The findings revealed that mothers of NH subjects spent longer time at work place; thus, nannies at home also spent more time per day with the subjects. The DCC subjects experienced more frequent episodes of cold, cough and fever. No significant differences were observed in the intake of different nutrients among subjects in the two groups. Cognitive, motor and language development were better in NH group. At-home care emerged as a better non-maternal care setting for preschoolers; and nannies seemed to provide more positive influence on the health status, dietary habits, and development of subjects as compared to caregivers at day care centres.