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Determinants of timely initiation of complementary feeding among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia

Girma Gilano1, Sewunet Sako2, Kasarto Gilano3

  • 1Department of Health Informatics, School of Public Health, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Arba Minch University, Arba Minch, Ethiopia. gilanog@yahoo.com.

Scientific Reports
|November 9, 2022
PubMed

Insights

Timely complementary feeding initiation in Ethiopia is low at 36.44%. Factors like birth intervals, maternal education, and wealth influence timely feeding practices for improved child health outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Maternal and Child Nutrition
  • Demography

Background:

  • Introducing complementary feeding outside the recommended 6-month window is linked to adverse health outcomes.
  • Many Ethiopian mothers deviate from World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for complementary feeding initiation.
  • Several demographic, economic, and service-related factors may contribute to non-adherence to timely feeding practices.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To identify factors associated with delayed complementary feeding initiation in Ethiopia.
  • To inform future interventions aimed at improving infant and young child feeding practices.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey (EMDHS) data.
  • Inclusion of 4061 mother-child pairs (children under 2 years).
  • Application of multilevel binary logistic regression using Stata v.15.

Main Results:

  • Only 36.44% of infants in Ethiopia initiated complementary feeding on time.
  • Factors significantly associated with timely complementary feeding included shorter preceding birth intervals (AOR=1.97), primary education (AOR=2.26), secondary education and above (AOR=1.62), and higher wealth index (AOR=1.25).

Conclusions:

  • The low rate of timely complementary feeding initiation necessitates targeted interventions.
  • Interventions should focus on maternal education, economic empowerment, equitable healthcare access, and family planning to promote optimal infant feeding.

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