Minimum acceptable dietary intake among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Area of Science:

• Public Health Nutrition
• Pediatrics
• Global Health

Background:

• Malnutrition poses a significant threat to children aged 6-23 months, particularly in developing nations like Ethiopia.
• Inconsistent findings from previous studies necessitate a comprehensive review of the minimum acceptable diet (MAD) prevalence in Ethiopia.
• This review addresses the critical issue of inadequate dietary intake among young children in Ethiopia.

Approach:

• A systematic review and meta-analysis of published cross-sectional studies on the minimum acceptable diet (MAD) for children aged 6-24 months in Ethiopia.
• Inclusion of nine studies with a total of 4,223 participants, published up to October 30, 2021.
• Utilized a random-effects model for pooled prevalence estimation and employed Begg's and Egger's tests to assess publication bias.

Key Points:

• The pooled prevalence of minimum acceptable diet (MAD) in Ethiopia was found to be alarmingly low at 25.69% (95% CI: 11.96, 39.41).
• Significant heterogeneity (I2 = 99.4%) was observed among the included studies, indicating variability in MAD prevalence across different regions or contexts within Ethiopia.
• The findings underscore a critical gap in achieving adequate nutrition for young children in Ethiopia.

Conclusions:

• The minimum acceptable dietary intake among Ethiopian children aged 6-23 months is suboptimal, with only one in four children meeting the recommended standards.
• There is a pressing need for the Ethiopian government to actively promote and enforce child feeding guidelines to improve dietary intake and combat malnutrition.
• Interventions focused on enhancing child feeding practices are crucial to increase the proportion of children meeting the minimum acceptable diet and safeguard their health and development.