The Under 5 Age Children in Urban Area of Sangareddy, Telangana

Abstract

Background: Diarrhoea is defined as the passage of three or more loose or liquid stools per day (or more frequent passage than is normal for the individual) 1 . Diarrhoea can last several days, and can leave the body without water and salts that are necessary for survival. In urban setting, diarrhoea is more common in the slum dwelling children who live in an environment with poor sanitary facilities and polluted water 2 Aim and Objective: To estimate the prevalence of acute diarrhoeal diseases among the children below 5 years of age. Material and Methodology: Cross sectional type of study conducted in children of 0-5 years of age using pre designed, pretested structured questionnaire. 402 children were selected for the study using convenient sampling technique. Study area was 5 Urban slum pockets in Urban Health and Training Centre(UHTC), Sangareddy, Department of Community Medicine, MNR Medical College, Telangana. Results: Prevalence of acute diarrhoeal diseases was 15.7% among 402 under-fives children from the urban slum, over a recall period of 2 weeks. Among them 207 children were males and 195 were females, of which prevalence of diarrhea was observed more in females 33 (16.9%) when compared to males 30 (14.5%). About 90% of study participants belonged to nuclear family of which most of them belonged to class IV (upper lower) according to Modified Kuppuswamy scale3. Socio environmental conditions of these families were poor. Conclusions: The study brought light on the unmet needs regarding poverty, sanitation, proper disposal of waste water and daily supply of safe potable drinking water and health care delivery.