Background: Diarrheal diseases are the second leading cause of child
deaths globally and now considered to be the leading cause of child deaths in
Africa. In Ethiopia, diarrheal diseases are also important child health problems.
This study aimed to investigate the effect of behavioral factors on the
under-five diarrheal morbidity in the rural communities of Gummer Woreda,
Southern Ethiopia. Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted
from April 30/2012 to June 4/2012 in the rural community of Gummer Woreda,
Southern Ethiopia. A total of 634 households that had at least one under-five
child were randomly selected from the nine Kebeles and included in the study.
Structured pre-tested questionnaire and observation checklist were applied to
collect data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were used to test
associations between outcome and explanatory variables. Odds ratios at 95 % CI
were computed to measure the strength of the association between the outcome
and the independent variables. P-value < 0.05 was considered as a
statistically significant in multivariate analysis. Result: Out of 634
households with at least one under five child, 611 (96.4%) gave informed
consent and were included in the study. Respondents who used bottle feeding
method (AOR: 2.866, 95%CI: (1.588, 5.170), practice of hand washing after visiting latrine (AOR: 2.080, 95%CI:
(1.076, 4.021), the presence of observable faeces around the pit hole/slab in
their latrine (AOR: 2.391, 95%CI: (1.444, 3.959), children from those mothers
who had history of diarrhea (AOR: 3.158, 95%CI: (1.240, 8.045) were
significantly associated with childhood diarrhea. With regard to
diarrheal morbidity prevalence, the two-week period prevalence prior to the survey
was 14.6%. Conclusion: Maternal child care and hygienic behavioral practices
were potential determinants of under-five diarrheal morbidity in the current
study area. Thus, health education and promotion should be done with different
stakeholders.