ASSOCIATION OF EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING AND DIARRHEAL DISEASE AMONG UNDER TWO YEARS CHILDREN IN RANCHI, INDIA: A COMMUNITY BASED STUDY

Abstract

Background: Diarrhea is a preventable and treatable disease however; it is the second life threatening cause of child morbidity and mortality across the globe. Among many risk factors, malnutrition is one of the biggest risk factors which cause childhood morbidity and mortality among children under two. In terms of child health and child nutrition, ensuring healthy Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) by giving exclusive breastfeeding is crucial. Therefore, the aim of the study is to determine the association of Exclusive Breastfeeding and Diarrheal Diseases Among Under Two Years Children in Ranchi, India.

Methodology: A cross sectional study using a quantitative research design was conducted by using a semi-structured questionnaire. With the cluster or area sampling, a total of 384 participants who had children between 6 months to 24 months were selected for the study. Pretesting of the questionnaires was done among 5 volunteers prior to data collection in order to evaluate the reliability and testing of the questionnaires for piloting. Before initiating the surveys, consent forms were given to the participants and explained thoroughly and written or verbal consent were taken based on their comfortability. Moreover, the subjects of the study were given the complete right to withdraw during data collection. After data collection, they were checked for the consistency, error and entered in SPSS software. The data analysis was done on SPSS software to find the association. Result: The study found that the majority of the participants had the knowledge of exclusive breastfeeding (96.2%), where the practice level is 74.4% and 97.1% of the participants had given colostrum. The prevalence of diarrhea among the children within the second year of life was found to be 72.1% including both acute and persistent diarrhea. In terms of Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), about 99% of the participants have access to clean drinking water, and 81.4% of them have safe sanitation facilities. The result of the study shows that 91% of the participants have the knowledge of Oral Rehydration Saline (ORS) is 91%. The result of the study shows that there is a significant association between exclusive breastfeeding and prevention of children under two against diarrhea with p<0.005.

Conclusion: The study has found a significant association between exclusive breastfeeding and the prevention of diarrhea among under two. However, the high prevalence of diarrhea, and low exclusive breastfeeding rate requires the development of health intervention through effective educational strategies to promote exclusive breastfeeding to ensure healthy Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) and to improve WASH facilities to reduce child morbidity and mortality caused by diarrhea.