HYGIENE AND SANITATION PRACTICES OF MOTHERS AND PREVALENCE OF DIARRHEA AMONG ‰¤ 2 YEARS OF CHILDREN IN A RESETTLEMENT COLONY

Diarrhea is the major health issue in developing countries with high morbidity and mortality rate among children below 2 years of age.Mothers hygiene behaviour is associated with occurrence of diarrhea in children as they are the primary care givers. We carried out a survey to assess the behavioural practices of mother regarding hygiene and sanitation and prevalence of diarrheal diseases in children below 2 years of age. Stratified systemic sampling technique was used to draw sampling frame.Based on the calculated sample size of 84, a total of 101 subjects were enrolled for the study. Data was collected in the month of July-Nov, 2014 by using interview schedule and observational checklist. 62 variables were used in the checklist to measure the behaviour score of mothers on hygiene and sanitation practices. The mean score of hygiene and sanitation practices of mother was 48 out of 62 and the range was 32-52. The diarrhea episodes in the past 3 months were considered for measuring the prevalence of diarrhea among children below 2 years of age. Mean no. of diarrheal episode occurred in children was1and the range was 1-3.The prevalence of diarrhea among children was 89%. It seems that the hygiene and sanitation practices of mothers are associated with occurrence of diarrhea among children.