RESUMEN
Background : Pre-school morbidity is an important index of the health status of a community. The high degree of morbidity amongst this age group in India is a common occurrence. Objectives : To study burden of illness and etiology of morbidity in pre-school children (0-5 year). Material & Methods : Cross sectional study for 4 months in an urban slum area of Visakhapatnam. Clinical examination of the children in age-group 0-5 years along with interviews of their parents were done in a house-to-house survey. Results: Morbidity was found in 146 out of the total 353 children. The male-female ratio of morbid children was 1.5: 1. Communicable diseases were found in 82% while non-communicable diseases like PEM and anaemia was a finding in about 18%. Conclusions : Communicable diseases were commoner cause of morbidity in the pre-school children. The conditions associated with morbidity were younger age, poor socioeconomic conditions, low birth weight & increasing birth-order.