Diarrhoea amongst under three children in rural Haryana.

A community based study was conducted to assess the magnitude of the problem of diarrhoea and factors associated with it amongst children below three years of age. Two districts in Haryana state were selected by using multistage random sampling procedure. Eight hundred eighteen children in the age group of 0-35 months belonging to scheduled caste communities were studied. All children suffering from diarrhoea at the time of survey or within last 2 weeks were included for the detailed study. The occurrence of diarrhoea was highest in age group 6-11 months (28%) and was lowest in age group 0-5 months (16%). No relationship was found between the nutritional status of children and the occurrence of diarrhoea. The percentage prevalence of diarrhoea was 42, 32 and 36 per cent amongst normally, moderately and severely malnourished children, respectively. Thirty seven percent of children suffering from diarrhoea received bottle feed.