Risk Factors of Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years in Urban Slums

An Epidemiological Study

  • Balakrishna Kalakheti Lumbini Medical College
  • Kiran Panthee Lumbini Medical College
  • Kastur Chand Jain Lumbini Medical College
Keywords: child, diarrhea, risk factors, slums

Abstract

Introduction: Diarrhea is a leading cause of mortality in children in developing countries and the condition is worse in slums. In order to provide effective preventive and management strategies, it is important to identify factors associated with the disease. This study was carried out to investigate the risk factors of diarrhea inĀ  children under five years of age in urban slums.

Methods: Parents of all childrenĀ under five years from the urban slums of Tansen municipality, Palpa, Nepal were interviewed using a standardized pretested questionnaire and proforma. Parental variables, environmental factors, and presence of diarrhea in those children in past three months were collected by trained enumerators and the data were analyzed with statistical software SPSS-10.

Results: A total of 450 under five years children were enrolled in the study. There were 216 (48%) male and 234 (52%) female children with F:M ratio of 1.08:1. Occurrence of diarrhea was lower if the children were breast-fed for more than six months, well-nourished, used fountain water for drinking, or used boiled or treated water. Similarly, diarrhea prevalence was lower if father had a regular job, daily income in the family was more than one US dollar, there was a toilet in the house, practice of hand washing was followed before feeding or preparing food, or there was no child suffering from diarrhea in the neighborhood.

Conclusion: There are a few variables that are significantly related to diarrhea in children under five years of age. In order to decrease the diarrheal episodes in children in the slums of the developing countries, priority could be given in the improvement of those variables.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Balakrishna Kalakheti, Lumbini Medical College

Associate Professor

Department of Pediatrics

Kiran Panthee, Lumbini Medical College

Lecturer

Department of Pediatrics

Kastur Chand Jain, Lumbini Medical College

Professor

Department of Pediatrics

Published
2016-12-30
How to Cite
1.
Kalakheti B, Panthee K, Jain K. Risk Factors of Diarrhea in Children Under Five Years in Urban Slums. J Lumbini Med Coll [Internet]. 30Dec.2016 [cited 14Jan.2025];4(2):94 -98. Available from: https://jlmc.edu.np/index.php/JLMC/article/view/99
Section
Original Research Article