Diarrhea asmajor cause of illness and death among children in developing countriesattributethe problem with belief system which is inconsistentwith recommended intervention.rnA cross sectional study was conducted aiming to assess beliefs and perceptions of types, causes,signs/ symptoms of severity and action taken andhow these beliefs influenced actions ofmothers/ households in karrayu community. It was done in rural Fentale, East Shoa zone,Oromia region. The study participants included 405 households with under five childrenselected from six kebeles. Data was collected using structured questionnaire supported by in-depth interview.rnThe resultsshowedthatunder five diarrhea attack rate was 33.3%.Perceivedtypes of childhooddiarrhea were Yellow (52%), green (79%), watery (55%) and chichita (71%).evil-eye, teething,andeatingimproper food, 40.5%, 64%and 83.5% respectivelyidentified causes of diarrhea.Perceived types identificationshelped mothers/households todecideon takenactions(80.5%).Besidesof this, the study showed thatbehavior of mothers/ households on practice of child hooddiarrheal management influenced by community explanatory method of diarrhea illnesscausation. Hence, to get the desired behavioral changes of households on recommendedchildhood diarrheal disease management,the educational message must consistent with existingbeliefs, uses familiar words and examples to explain new ideas.