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Dietary diversity and meal frequency among infant and young children: a community based study
Aysheshim Kassahun Belew1, Bekrie Mohammed Ali2, Zegeye Abebe2
1Department of Human Nutrition, Institute of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia. aysheshim121@gmail.com.
Insights
Dietary diversity and meal frequency were low in Ethiopian children aged 6-23 months. Positive associations were found with media exposure, postnatal care, and growth monitoring, highlighting key areas for intervention.
Area of Science:
- Nutrition Science
- Public Health
- Pediatrics
Background:
- Inadequate complementary feeding negatively impacts child health and growth, particularly in the first two years of life.
- Low dietary diversity and meal frequency are critical concerns in early childhood development.
- Ethiopia faces challenges in ensuring optimal complementary feeding practices for infants and young children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency among children aged 6-23 months in Dabat District, Ethiopia.
- To identify factors associated with inadequate dietary diversity and meal frequency in this age group.
- To inform targeted interventions for improving infant and young child feeding practices.
Main Methods:
- A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Dabat District, Ethiopia.
- A structured questionnaire administered by interviewers collected data from 6-23 month old children's caregivers.
- Statistical analysis included Crude and Adjusted Odds Ratios to determine associations with dietary diversity and meal frequency.
Main Results:
- Only 17% of children met minimum dietary diversity, while 72.2% met minimum meal frequency.
- Factors positively associated with dietary diversity included media exposure, postnatal care visits, and child growth monitoring participation.
- Meal frequency was significantly associated with child's age, household wealth, residence, information sources, and growth monitoring participation.
Conclusions:
- The study revealed low rates of minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency among young children in the Dabat District.
- Media exposure, postnatal care, and child growth monitoring are crucial for improving dietary diversity.
- Household wealth and residence were significant factors for meal frequency, indicating a need for context-specific strategies.
Background:
Insufficient quantities, frequencies, and inadequate quality of complementary feedings have a negative effect on child health and growth, especially in the first two years of life. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the minimum dietary diversity, meal frequency and its associated factors among infants and young children aged 6-23 months at Dabat District, northwest, Ethiopia.
Methods:
A community- based cross-sectional study was conducted from February 15 to March 10, 2016. The simple random sampling method was used to select study participants. An interviewer- administered structured questionnaire was used to collect data. Both Crude and Adjusted Odds Ratio with the corresponding 95% confidence interval were calculated to show the strength of association. In the multivariable analysis, variables with less than 0.05 P-value were considered statistically significant.
Results:
The proportion of children who met the minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency were 17% (95% CI: 14.9, 19.4%) and 72.2% (95% CL: 69.3, 75%), respectively. Satisfactory media exposure (AOR = 2.79; 95% CI: 1.74, 4.47), postnatal care visits (AOR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.32, 2.88), participation in child growth and monitoring follow ups (AOR = 1.65; 95% CI: 1.14, 2.39), age of children (AOR = 2.34; 95% CI: 1.33, 4.11) and age of mothers (AOR = 1.89; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.27) were positively associated with dietary diversity. Similarly, age of children (AOR = 2.38; 95% CI: 1.56, 3.65), household wealth status (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.27, 2.68), residence (AOR = 3.02; 95% CI: 1.41, 6.48), sources of information (AOR = 1.72; 95% CI:1.14, 2.59) and participation in child growth monitoring folow ups (AOR = 1.57; 95% CI: 1.13, 2.19) were significantly associated with meal frequency.
Conclusion:
In this study, the proportion of children who received the minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency were low. Media exposure, age of children, postnatal care visits, and participation in child growth and monitoring follow-ups were significantly associated with dietary diversity. Likewise, wealth status and residence had a significant association with meal frequency. Thus, encouraging all mothers to participate in child monthly growth monitoring programs, intensive media advertising and strengthening counseling of mothers, and postnatal care visit are highly recommended for achieving the recommended dietary practices.
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