The Effect of Socio-Demographic Characteristics and Nutrition on Diarrhea: A Case-Control Study

Objective: Diarrhea is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality in childhood. In this study, possible effects of sociodemographic characteristics and the nutrition pattern on the prevention of diarrhea in children aged 6-24 months have been studied by investigating the frequency and quantities of pre-probiotic consumption. Material and Methods: In this case-control study, children aged 6-24 months who presented with complaints of diarrhea to a university hospital constituted the case group. Children in the same age group who were followed in the well child clinic and did not complain of diarrhea constituted the control group. After obtaining verbal consent from the mothers, data were collected by a questionnaire including items regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of the children and the frequency and daily amount of natural foods with pre-probiotics they consumed. Results: A total of 226 children were enrolled in the study. The case and control groups were found to be similar regarding body weight, sex, and age. We found that children with mothers or fathers educated eight years or less were more at risk of diarrhea. It was also found that children of mothers aged 29 years and younger were 3.48 times more likely to have diarrheal illness. A low socioeconomic level was also a risk factor for diarrhea. It was found that milk, kashar cheese, dry beans, chickpeas, leeks, homemade cakes, and chocolates were consumed more frequently in the diarrhea group than the control group. However, daily consumption amounts of yogurt, dry bean, chickpea, lentil and onion for the children in the control group were significantly higher than the diarrhea group.