Daniel Moseti Mamboleo, Simon Mburu Njoroge, Florence Nyaboke Okaru, David Ayuku
This study examined diarrheal diseases among children in Uasin Gishu County’s childcare institutions per age, sex, duration of a child in a childcare institution, and use of soap in hand washing after visiting the toilet. The study involved 202 children between ages 6 to 20 years old. There were65.8% boy child and 34.2 girls, 71.3% of these children were between 6-15 years old. The study found 64.4% children used soap to wash hands after toilet. Use of soap in hand washing increased with increase in children’s age, with a girl using soap more in hand washing at the rate of 84.1% compared to a boy child. The study learned that 90.1% children had suffered from diarrheal diseases within 28 days where 61.4% boys had suffered from diarrhea. Chi-square analysis showed a significant relationship between diarrheal diseases and children’s age (P<0.001) while there was a significant relationship between diarrhea andgender (P<0.001). It was concluded that the prevalence of diarrheal diseases in Uasin Gishu County child care institutions was 90.1% and that boys were affected more than the girls. Health education on use of soap in hand-washing after toilet should be intensified as a means of decreasing diarrheal diseases.