Diarrhoea
Diarrhoea causes dehydration and severe diarrhoea kills millions of children worldwide.
Older children can learn and share knowledge about the causes of diarrhoea, the dangers of dehydration and to raise awareness about the need for rehydration, washing hands and other important hygiene practices.
Use the message tabs on the left to read our Top Ten Messages on Diarrhoea for children to learn and share. Scroll down to see ideas on what children can do to understand, find out more, take action and reflect on this topic.
Download our 100 Messages PDF to have a copy of all our messages for printing and sharing. View our Diarrhoea messages in Many More Languages and download some FREE Resources associated with this topic.
MESSAGE ONE
Diarrhoea is watery poo that happens three or more times a day. It can lead to dangerous dehydration.
Diarrhoea is caused by germs we can’t see that get into our mouth, from our hands or food and into our tummy. The germs make our tummy want to get rid of the germs by using more water, making our poo watery. When we have diarrhoea we can lose a lot of water and might get a fever. It is very dangerous to lose a lot of water. When we have lost a lot of water we become very sleepy, with saggy skin and sunken eyes. When we have watery poo, or when a baby has watery poo, more than three times a day we need to take action to treat diarrhoea and replace water and nutrients to help the person get well.
MESSAGE TWO
Diarrhoea is caused by germs that are too small to see. Germs live all around us! Germs travel easily from our fingers, food, drinks, cups and spoons and into our mouths and bodies.
We can’t see germs. Germs come from poo and they can move from person to person on hands and food and in water that is dirty because poo has got into it. When we wash vegetables or plates and spoons with dirty water, or if we drink it, the germs can get into our bodies. To stop germs spreading we need to remember to wash our hands with soap every time before we eat and after we poo. We need to use the toilet and keep our drinking water clean and covered.
Some germs, like cholera, are very dangerous and cause a dangerous kind of diarrhoea. Germs love to travel on the legs of flies! Stop flies by keeping animals away from the house, keeping the house clean and always using the toilet. Think of all the ways germs can get into our mouths and what we can do to stop them.
MESSAGE THREE
Diarrhoea causes us to lose vital fluids from our bodies. We need to replace fluids and salts to keep the body strong and prevent serious illness or even death from dehydration.
The loss of water and salts makes the body weak. Unless these are replaced, diarrhoea can kill young children quickly from dehydration. Treat children with diarrhoea with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and food. For every time a child or baby has a watery poo give them a drink or ORS. Keep feeding babies breast milk and it’s important to make sure children eat nutritious food even if they don’t feel like it!
When babies and young children lose too much water they show signs of dehydration. We can learn to recognise the signs of dehydration in babies and share what we learn with our families.
ORS is a special drink that is very easy to make at home. Learn how to make ORS here. Help our younger brothers and sisters drink ORS and eat when they have diarrhoea.
Read the story Rosa Meena Saves a Life and learn more about looking after a baby with diarrhoea.
MESSAGE FOUR
A child with dehydration can have a dry mouth and tongue, sunken eyes, no tears, loose skin, cool hands and feet. Babies can have a sunken soft spot on the head. Spot these signs? Take them to a clinic urgently.
Our bodies need water to live and grow. Without water our bodies stop working and can die. When we have diarrhoea we lose water and if we don’t put more water back into our body we can become dehydrated. When a young child or baby gets very dehydrated there are signs that tell us we need to give Oral Rehydration Salts immediately and get help from a health professional.
Play the labelling game to test our knowledge of all the signs of dehydration in a baby.
Look at how plants need water to grow – find out what happens when plants don’t have water.
Make a poster to show others these danger signs so they can get help when they need to.
MESSAGE FIVE
ORS stands for Oral Rehydration Solution, the best drink to prevent and treat dehydration. Find packets, to make ORS, at clinics and shops.
When we have diarrhoea we need to have a special drink called ORS – ‘Oral Rehydration Solution’ and a special medicine called zinc. ORS puts the water and salts that we have lost from our poo back into our bodies.
Children should learn how to make ORS at home, which drinks are safe when we don’t have any ORS and the danger signs that mean we need to get help from a health worker. We should also make sure our First Aid Kits at home and at school have ORS.
MESSAGE SIX
Prevent dehydration by using ORS as soon as diarrhoea begins. Mix ORS correctly with clean, safe water following the instructions on the packet. Breast milk is best for babies.
When we have diarrhoea extra safe drinks like coconut or rice water will help our diarrhoea get better. We can use these drinks when we don’t have any Oral Rehydration Salts. Other drinks should always use boiled water. Breast milk is the best drink for babies and when a baby has diarrhoea they need it most of all.
MESSAGE SEVEN
Children doing more than three watery poos a day or bloody poo or who start to vomit too MUST be seen by a health worker. Give ORS or other fluids while waiting to be seen.
When we have a lot of watery poo that happens quickly and are sick and vomit, we may have a dangerous disease called cholera. When we have blood in our poo we may have dysentery. Cholera and dysentery are very dangerous and can kill us so we must get help from a health worker. If we have had diarrhoea for several days, we also need to get help from a health worker. We can learn to recognise when diarrhoea cannot be treated at home and we need to get help from a health worker.
MESSAGE EIGHT
Zinc tablets can reduce the amount of poo and can help children recover more quickly from diarrhoea. Health workers instruct us how to take Zinc with ORS. Give fluids too, to prevent dehydration.
Most times when we have diarrhoea, other medicines and antibiotics do not help and may make us feel worse. Zinc pills can help stop us pooing so often and get better more quickly. We must always take ORS when we have diarrhoea even if we are taking zinc pills as well.
MESSAGE NINE
Young children with diarrhoea need every day tasty, mashed food and soups as often as possible to make their body stronger.
When we have diarrhoea we lose the nutrients that help us grow as well, we lose the water we need for our body to work properly. When we have diarrhoea we need to eat nutritious food. When a baby has diarrhoea they should still have breast milk to drink even if they don’t want to eat. After children have diarrhoea, foods like mashed fruit, cooked meat, fish, cereal of beans will help them build up their strength again. Add a small spoonful of oil to help make swallowing easier.
MESSAGE TEN
Prevent germs spreading! Develop everyday habits like proper handwashing with soap, good hygiene after toilet, before eating and preparing food. Breastfeed babies and immunise against measles and rotavirus.
If we all work together we can stop diarrhoea! We can learn to keep ourselves clean by washing our hands before eating and after using the toilet. We can help keep our environment clean by always using the toilet, by keeping our homes clean and cleaning poo from animals and babies safely by putting it in the latrine or burying it away from the house and away from our water sources. We can encourage our mothers to keep breastfeeding our little brothers and sisters as long as possible. And we can make sure we have all our immunisations on immunisation days. Together we can help stop diarrhoea!
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Children can
learn, collect & share these messages!
CHILDREN SAY THAT WE CAN…
MAKE our own Diarrhoea Messages using our own words in our own language!
LEARN these messages so we never forget them!
ADD these messages to our collection!
SHARE these messages with other children and our families!
WHAT CAN CHILDREN MAKE?
MAKE a simple fly trap to keep flies that carry germs away from our food.
MAKE a poster to show others these danger signs so they can get help when they need to.
CREATE a short play about when we need to call the health worker to help.
MAKE a snakes and ladders game to help us learn how to stop diarrhoea.
MAKE First Aid Kits for home and school that has ORS.
When teaching children these messages, it can be be hard to hold their interest in the topic and keep energy up. For ideas on keeping children engaged and excited, look at Closing Games & Activities.
WHAT CAN CHILDREN DO?
ROLE PLAY two mothers talking about how to help their babies with diarrhoea get better.
PLAY the labelling game to test our knowledge of all the signs of dehydration in a baby.
LOOK at how plants need water to grow – find out what happens when plants don’t have water.
HELP prevent diarrhoea by keeping ourselves and the places we live clean.
PLAY the handshaking game to find out how quickly germs can spread.
WHAT CAN CHILDREN ASK?
HOW long were our parents breastfed?
HOW to treat diarrhoea at home with ORS and zinc?
WHAT are the danger signs that mean we need to get help from a health worker?
WHAT drinks are safe when we have diarrhoea?
HOW we can make water safe to drink by using sunlight?
WHICH drinks are safe when we don’t have any ORS?
WHAT are dysentery and cholera and how do they spread?
ALL 10 MESSAGES
DIARRHOEA
- Diarrhoea is watery poo that happens three or more times a day. It can lead to dangerous dehydration.
- Diarrhoea is caused by tiny germs that are too small to see. Germs live all around us! Germs travel easily from our fingers, food, drinks, cups and spoons and into our mouths and bodies.
- Diarrhoea causes us to lose vital fluids from our bodies. We need to replace fluids and salts to keep the body strong and prevent serious illness or even death from dehydration.
- A child with dehydration can have a dry mouth and tongue, sunken eyes, no tears, loose skin, cool hands and feet. Babies can have a sunken soft spot on the head. Spot these signs? Take them to a clinic urgently.
- ORS stands for Oral Rehydration Solution, the best drink to prevent and treat dehydration. Find packets, to make ORS, at clinics and shops.
- Prevent dehydration by using ORS as soon as diarrhoea begins. Mix ORS correctly with clean, safe water following the instructions on the packet. Breast milk is best for babies.
- Children doing more than three watery poos a day or bloody poo or who start to vomit too MUST be seen by a health worker. Give ORS or other fluids while waiting to be seen.
- Zinc tablets can reduce the amount of poo and can help children recover more quickly from diarrhoea. Health workers instruct us how to take Zinc with ORS. Give fluids too, to prevent dehydration.
- Young children with diarrhoea need every day tasty, mashed food and soups as often as possible to make their body stronger.
- Prevent germs spreading! Develop everyday habits like proper handwashing with soap, good hygiene after toilet, before eating and preparing food. Breastfeed babies and immunise against measles and rotavirus.