ABSTRACT
Diarrheal diseases and malnutrition are common in children of developing countries and an interaction between diarrhea and undernutrition has been well established. Undernutrition is the underlying cause of thirty-five percent of global childhood deaths [1]. Diarrhea is one of the primary cause of poor nutrition in the under five children. It is estimated that “the total number of deaths caused directly and indirectly by malnutrition induced by safe water, inadequate sanitation and insufficient hygiene is therefore 860,000 deaths per year in children under five years of age” [1]. Globally improving water, sanitation and hygiene could prevent at least 9.1% of the DALYs (disability adjusted life years – a weighted measure of deaths and disability) or disease burden or 6.3% of all deaths. In developing countries the consequences of unsafe water, inadequate sanitation or insufficient hygiene impact on nutritional status of children.
