Abstract

Diarrhoea can be defined as passage of loose stools, three times or more in a day, with an increased frequency of bowel movements. It is mainly affecting the poor because of lack of poor sanitation and water hygiene. With proper education about sanitation and hygiene, through demonstrations and educational interventions, the adolescents can practise these precautionary measures at home and prevent themselves from these frequent infections. Aim: To provide awareness and education to the adolescents in Mysuru district and to assess the effectiveness of this diarrhoea awareness campaign among the adolescents in Mysuru district. Methods: Community based intervention study. In a duration of three months, 3 schools were covered in field practice area of JSS urban health centre, Medhar block and JSS high school bannimantap. The sessions had presentations, live demonstrations and informative brochures on hygiene and ORS. Pre and post validated questionnaire was given to assess children’s knowledge. Sample size is 119. Results: We found that post the intervention there was a significant increase in the knowledge among the adolescents. There was a significant association between socio-demographic factors like religion, type of drain, type of family, source of water for cooking and household purposes. Conclusion: We can conclude from the above study that intervention campaigns like the above is one of the most simplest and effective ways to spread health awareness among adolescents. With targeted groups and by combining components of health we can make significant progress in increasing the health status of the community.

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