February 2019/ Vol 6/ Issue 02 Print ISSN: 2349-5499, Online ISSN: 2349-3267 Original Research Article Pediatric Review: International Journal of Pediatric Research Available online at: www.medresearch.in 58|P a g e A cross sectional study: knowledge and practices about diarrheal diseases and ORS in the mothers of under five years children Arora K.K. 1 , Taran S.J. 2 , Gupta N. 3 1 Dr. Kewal Kishore Arora, Assistant Professor, Paediatrics, SAMC and PG Institute, 2 Dr. Shachi Jain Taran, Assistant Professor, Paediatrics, MGM Medical College, Indore, MP, 3 Dr. Nidhi Gupta, Junior Resident, Paediatrics, SAMC and PG Institute. Corresponding Author: Dr. Shachi Jain Taran, Assistant Professor, Paediatrics, MGM Medical College, Indore (M.P.) India. E-mail: shachitaran@yahoo.co.in ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... Abstract Background: Diarrhoea is one of themajorkillerin under five years children worldwide. But accurate knowledge and practices about diarrheal diseases and use of ORS as an important tool in the mothers remain low. This cross sectional study was conducted to find out the level of knowledge and practices about diarrhoea and ORS in the mothers of under five children. Material and Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 8 randomly selected colonies of semi urban and urban area of Indore district in the year 2017. Mothers who had at least one child under five years of age with one episode of diarrhoeain the past were included in the study. Results: Most of the mothers (61.4%) knew right description for diarrhoea. But very few mother had knowledge about causes (23.6%) of diarrhoea. Verysmall number (26.81%) knew about all danger signs. Majority (91.8%) of mothers knew of ORS though only half 54.5% of them knew correct method of ORS preparation. 81.7% mothers had some knowledge about use of home based fluid. About one third of mothers knew about Zinc tablets (34.6%) and Rotavirus vaccine (37.3%). 44.7% of mother used ORS while 73.4% used home based fluids. Post diarrheal episode only 26.36% of mothers gave extra meal to the children. Conclusion: A strong association is found between knowledge and practices regarding diarrhoea management. Hence health education should be used as a tool to promote knowledge and good practices and reduce morbidity and mortality related to acute diarrhoea. Key words: Diarrhoea; ORS; Knowledge and Practices; Mother; Children ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………... Introduction Worldwide, diarrhoea remains a major public health burden. In developing countries, diarrhoea is the second leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. Each year, an estimated 2.5 billion cases of diarrhoea occur among children under five years of age. More than half of these cases are in Africa and South Asia. Incidence is highest in the first two years of life and declines as a child grows older. Africa and South Asia are home to more than 80 percent of child deaths due to diarrhoea [1]. Every year diarrhoea kills around 525000 children under five [2]. Although the majority of diarrheal incidents are not severe and may not require specific intervention, a large number are potentially grave. Diarrhoea is the most important public health problem Manuscript received: 28 th January 2019 Reviewed: 4 th February 2019 Author Corrected: 10 th February 2019 Accepted for Publication: 15 th February 2019 connected to water and sanitation and can be both water borne and water-washed. Many more children could have been saved through basic interventions to improve quality of drinking water, sanitation and hygiene for diarrhoea prevention alongwith the wide spread use of a simple solution of oral rehydration salts (ORS) and zinc supplementation during incidents of acute diarrhoea. Worldwide, just over 40 per cent of children under age 5 with diarrhoea receive the recommended treatment of oral rehydration therapy and continued feeding. Coverage of this treatment package is lowest in the Middle East and North Africa, South Asia and Sub- Saharan Africa (34 per cent, 37 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively). Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia (India being in South Asia) are also the regions with the most deaths from diarrhoea. Over the observed period, progress of this important intervention has been very slow [3]. Mother’s basic knowledge about diarrhoea