Maternal Knowledge and Practice Regarding Childhood Diarrhea and Diet in Zahedan, Iran

Abstract

Background: Diarrhea infection has been established as one of the major etiologies and risk factors of malnutrition in children. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the maternal knowledge, attitude and practices when treating diarrhea in their children less than 5 years old in the Zahedan, south-east province of Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in urban health centers in Zahedan. Three hundred mothers who had less than five years old children and had been referred to the health centers for six months duration had been included. The questions were about demographic characteristics, knowledge and practice regarding childhood diarrhea, and had been designed to obtain information through an interview. Results: The findings indicated that knowledge of the majority of mothers (64.3%) regarding diarrhea and diet was moderate and only 3.7% had good knowledge. The majority of mothers (56%) had a moderate practicing knowledge of diarrhea and diet and only 2.3% had a good practice. Conclusions: Based on the low level of knowledge and practice among the study population, the usual practice of focusing on a target group would be necessary. Our findings indicated a serious lack of competence in dealing with this problem.