Table 3.

Knowledge and beliefs about zinc among caregivers of children aged less than six years

Knowledge and belief	% of caregivers who had heard aboutzinc (n=1,772)	% of caregivers who treated children with zinc (n=37*)
Knowledge about zinc
Know that zinc should be given to child for
Acute diarrhoea	37.8	51.0
Persistent diarrhoea	79.8	70.1
Administration of zinc
Know that zinc should be given to a child withdiarrhoea for at least 10 days	53.3	77.3
Belief about effectiveness of zinc treatment
Zinc tablets are effective for treatment of diarrhoea	68.8	80.5
Zinc reduces duration of diarrhoea episode	76.3	92.4
Zinc helps strengthen the immune system of child	69.0	89.0
Zinc helps reduce severity of diarrhoea	65.8	83.7
Zinc reduces risk of new diarrhoea episode in the following 2-3 months	58.4	85.2

*The total number of caregivers whose children received zinc treatment for diarrhoea in the last two weeks. It is smaller than the number of children who received zinc treatment because some caregivers cared for more than one child