STUDY ON MORBIDITY AMONG UNDER-FIVE CHILDREN OF A RURAL AREA OF MANIPUR, THANGA: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

BACKGROUND: Children are the most precious assets of a country and their health status is highly reliable index of nation's health. Major causes of deaths in the age group 0-5 years are preventable. OBJECTIVE: To determine morbidity pattern among under-five children in the area and to assess its association with some selected variables METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among under-five children in the village from September to December 2007. A sample size of 390 (13*30) was selected and participants were examined after interviewing mother or care taker. Chi square test was applied for significance in the difference. RESULTS: Out of 390 under-five children 92.3% were sick in the last 3 months of visit. Occurrence of illness was minimum (77.9%) in age under one year as compared to other age categories (p= 0.0001). Majority of them (83.6%) were suffering from ARI with episode of 2.6/child in last 3 months. CONCLUSION: ARI is the commonest morbidity in the rural area of Manipur however the effect of flood on morbidity of under-five has to be studied further.