Knowledge, attitude, and practices on sanitation, water, and hygiene among mothers of under five children in rural area: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: Simple practices such as appropriate washing of the hands, supply as well as use of clean water, excreta disposal in a scientific manner, sanitary latrine use, persona hygiene, etc., help to maintain health and promote the quality of life by preventing a number of diseases. Objective: The objective of this study is to study knowledge, attitude, and practices on sanitation, water and hygiene among mothers of under five children in rural area. Materials and Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 347 mothers of under five children in villages around the Rural Health Training Center. Data were collected in semistructured questionnaire where the information was obtained by face-to-face interview. Results: Majority mothers belonged to 21–30 years (87.3%); educated up to intermediate level (69.7%); were home makers (77.5%) and majority (94.5%) belonged to lower class of socioeconomic status. 43.8% used boiling method to purify water at household level. For the baby food, 31.1% were using boiled water. Majority (84.7%) had adequate knowledge on hand-washing. 71.5% told that hand washing is necessary to keep oneself away from the diseases. 97.1% were washing their hands after defecation and 85.9% expressed the need of soap for hand washing. 33.7% told that flies over food are the cause of worm infections. For diarrhea, 44.4% told that unhygienic food is the cause of diarrhea. 87.1% used dumping for disposal of waste water from kitchen and general household; 82.7% were dumping solid waste. Using the sanitary latrine was seen in 83.3%. Conclusion: It was observed that the knowledge on purification of water was poor. Second, very few people use boiled water for preparing baby's food. The knowledge about washing of hands after defecation was good.

Keywords

• attitude
• hygiene
• knowledge
• practices
• sanitation
• water