 Introduction Various factors influence people’s attitudes. Education and media have become prominent in these days. In recent years particularly TV advertisements by government on spreading the concept of cleanliness and its relation to health have made tremendous impact.  Objective To assess the knowledge of the utility of toilets and hazards of open air defecation  Method The present study was conducted on a sample of 50 rural adults. Survey research design was used. Interview schedule was used to collect the data.  Results The Chi-square value (5.1282) and P value (0.02354) was computed and it was found that there is significant association between the educational status and home with attached toilets. Seventy per cent of the families are nuclear and only thirty per cent are joint families. Eighty two per cent of the families earn more than Rs. 5000 per month and eighteen per cent earn less than Rs. 5000 per month. Fifty two per cent are illiterates and forty eight per cent are literates. Eighty per cent of the rural adults say they do not have toilets; only twenty per cent have toilets in their houses. Six per cent of the rural adults got knowledge about using toilet through TV, six per cent got through radio and eight per cent got through all the sources. Sixty two per cent of the rural adults reported that diarrhoea is the main hazard of open air defecation, twenty per cent reported gastrointestinal infection, ten per cent reported malnutrition and eight per cent reported skin diseases.

Keywords : Open Air Defecation, Mass Media, Health Hazards, Toilets, and Rural Adults.