Published Paper Details:

Diarrhoeal disease is the second leading cause of death among children aged under 5 years of age, and is accountable for death toll of 0.5 million children every year globally. In 2015, deaths from diarrhoea in India, among children under five accounted for 10 percent (117,285) of all deaths among children below the age of five. Thus, the aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of diarrheal diseases and associated risk factors among under-five children in nine priority states of India. The study used data from the fourth round of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-IV), which was conducted during 2015�16. In the NFHS-IV survey, a total of 259,627 children under 5 were collected from India, out of which a total of 157,358 children from nine selected states were analysed. The study used Stata/MP Version 14.1 for appropriate bivariate and multivariate statistical analysis. The study has found that the 11 percent of children under age five years had diarrhoea in the two weeks before the survey: it was recorded highest in Uttarakhand (17%), followed by Uttar Pradesh (15%), and Bihar (10%). The prevalence of diarrhoea rises from 14 percent among children under age six months to 19 percent among those age 6-11 months, when complementary foods and other liquids are introduced. Prevalence remains high (16%) at age 12-23 months, which is the time when children begin to walk and are at increased risk of contamination from the environment. The results depicted in table shows that the age of the child, antenatal clinic visits, caste religion and WASH indicator were significantly associated with the risk of diarrhoea among children.