According to WHO (1980), diarrhea is loose, watery stools more than 3 times daily. Diarrhea is divided into two based on the origin and duration, ie acute and chronic diarrhea (Mansjoer, A.1999,501).
Diarrhea is a disease syndrome that is characterized by changes in the shape and consistency of stool slow to melt and increased frequency of bowel movements is usually 3 times or more a day. Diarrheal disease is the No. 2 cause of morbidity and mortality in children, especially among children under 5 years of age.
Various factors affect the incidence of diarrhea , such as environmental factors, nutrition, population, education, socio-economic circumstances and behavior.
Causes of Nutritional Decline During Diarrhea
1. Reduced food intake, is a result of:
- Anorexia is primarily seen in children with dysentery.
- Vomiting.
- Stopping food because of traditional beliefs to rest the bowel.
- Providing food with less nutritional value, such as soup diluted.
- Epithelial damage absorption which reduces the surface area of the intestine.
- Disaccharide deficiency because of the failure of enzyme production by the damaged microvilli.
- Reduced concentration of bile acids necessary for the absorption of fat.
- Transit of food through the gut very quickly lead to not enough time for digestion and absorption.
- Metabolic demand due to heat.
- The need to improve the intestinal epithelium.
- The need to replace the loss of serum proteins through the damaged intestinal mucosa as in dysentery.