{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T00:02:53Z","timestamp":1788912173890,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765152000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"\n Introduction<\/jats:title>\n Diarrhea remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among children under-five in developing countries. Mothers\u2019 knowledge and practices play a critical role in early home management and prevention.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Objectives<\/jats:title>\n To assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of mothers of under-five children regarding the prevention and management of diarrhea in Pune, India.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Methods<\/jats:title>\n A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey was conducted among 122 mothers attending the pediatric outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. Data on sociodemographic characteristics, knowledge, attitudes, and practices related to diarrhea were collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square tests.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Results<\/jats:title>\n \n Most mothers (67.2%) correctly defined diarrhea, and nearly all (99.18%) identified contaminated water as a major cause. Awareness of ORS was high, with 95.9% knowing its correct preparation. However, only 28.7% recognized the role of zinc supplementation. Higher education, employment, and income were significantly associated with better knowledge (\n p<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009&lt;\u20090.05), but not with practice scores. A weak positive correlation (\n r<\/jats:italic>\n \u2009=\u20090.34) was found between knowledge and practice. About 27% followed all three WHO-recommended home-based treatments (ORS, increased fluids, continued feeding), while 3% relied solely on antibiotics.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n Mothers demonstrated good awareness of diarrhea causes and ORS use but lacked adequate knowledge of zinc supplementation. Health education efforts should target these gaps to promote complete and evidence-based home management practices.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1673617","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]],"date-time":"2025-12-08T05:12:30Z","timestamp":1765170750000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["Maternal practices and awareness of diarrhea management in children under-five: evidence from Pune, India"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Sandhya A.","family":"Shukla","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sonali P.","family":"Suryawanshi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Priti P.","family":"Dhande","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"The treatment of diarrhoea: a manual for physicians and other senior health workers","year":"2005"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2151","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(12)60560-1","article-title":"Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality: an updated systematic analysis for 2010 with time trends since 2000","volume":"379","author":"Liu","year":"2012","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1405","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(13)60222-6","article-title":"Global burden of childhood pneumonia and diarrhoea","volume":"381","author":"Fischer Walker","year":"2013","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"100813","DOI":"10.1016\/j.cegh.2021.100813","article-title":"Prevalence of diarrhoea among under five children in India and its contextual determinants: a geo-spatial analysis","volume":"12","author":"Ghosh","year":"2021","journal-title":"Clin Epidemiol Glob Health"},{"key":"ref5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1969","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(10)60549-1","article-title":"Global, regional, and national causes of child mortality in 2008: a systematic analysis","volume":"375","author":"Black","year":"2010","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref6","year":"2018"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1479","DOI":"10.1186\/1471-2458-12-220","article-title":"Diarrhoea incidence in low- and middle-income countries in 1990 and 2010: a systematic review","volume":"12","author":"Christa","year":"2012","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"},{"key":"ref8","first-page":"1854","article-title":"Acute gastroenteritis in children","volume-title":"Nelson text book of pediatrics","author":"Bhutta","year":"2016"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"i75","DOI":"10.1093\/ije\/dyq025","article-title":"The effect of oral rehydration solution and recommended home fluids on diarrhoea mortality","volume":"39","author":"Munos","year":"2010","journal-title":"Int J Epidemiol"},{"key":"ref10","year":"2013"},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"191","DOI":"10.15406\/jmen.2018.06.00213","article-title":"Combating diarrhoea in Nigeria: the way forward","volume":"6","author":"Peter","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Microbiol Exp"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"583","DOI":"10.1007\/s13312-016-0892-2","article-title":"Rotavirus and other diarrheal disease in abirth cohort from Southern Indian community","volume":"53","author":"Sarkar","year":"2016","journal-title":"Indian Pedia"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1111\/mcn.12007","article-title":"Knowledge, attitudes and perceptions on infant and young child nutrition and feeding among adolescent girls and young mothers in rural Bangladesh","volume":"11","author":"Hackett","year":"2015","journal-title":"Matern Child Nutr"},{"key":"ref14","first-page":"3","article-title":"Knowledge attitude and practices of mothers about diarrhea in children under 5 years","volume":"8","author":"Mumtaz","year":"2014","journal-title":"J Dow Univ Health Sci"},{"key":"ref15","volume-title":"The Management of Diarrhoea and use of Oral rehydration therapy: A joint WHO\/UNICEF statement","year":"1985"},{"key":"ref16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"66","DOI":"10.4103\/mjmsr.mjmsr_55_17","article-title":"Knowledge, attitude, and practice of mothers of under-five children regarding diarrheal illness: a study from coastal Karnataka","volume":"9","author":"Gollar","year":"2018","journal-title":"Muller J Med Sci Res"},{"key":"ref17","volume-title":"WHO\/UNICEF: Joint Statement: Clinical Management of Acute Diarrhoea","year":"2004"},{"key":"ref18","volume-title":"Diarrheal disease. 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