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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1474995
This article is part of the Research Topic Sustainable Diets with Sociocultural and Economic Considerations View all 11 articles

Dietary diversity and associated factors among children aged 6-23 months attending a public health hospital in Awi Zone, Ethiopia, 2023

Provisionally accepted
Sileshi Mulatu Sileshi Mulatu 1*Hailemariam Workie Hailemariam Workie 1Lemessa Jira Ejigu Lemessa Jira Ejigu 1Habitam Dinku Habitam Dinku 2Fikir Tadesse Fikir Tadesse 2Azeb Gedif Azeb Gedif 2
  • 1 College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia
  • 2 Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Inadequate dietary diversity among children age 6-23 months remains a public problem in Ethiopia. Adequate dietary diversity is crucial for the child to meet their nutritional demands and promote healthy growth and development in infancy and young childhood.The study aims to assess dietary diversity and associated factors among children aged 6-23 months in the Awi zone, Ethiopia, in 2023.The study was conducted among children aged 6-23 months in Awi zone, Amhara, Ethiopia, from August to September 2023. A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted. A simple random sampling approach followed by face-to-face interview data collection techniques was employed. To ascertain minimum dietary diversity, the 24-hour food recall method comprising eight food item questionnaires was used. The presence of a statistical association between dependent and independent variables was declared using the adjusted odds ratio corresponding with 95% confidence intervals and a P-value of ≤0.05.Result: This study found that only 192 (47.6%) of 6-23 month old of children had adequate dietary diversity. In this study, variables like maternal education, [(AOR 2.36, 95% CI (1.297, 3.957)], birth interval [(AOR 2.85, 95% CI (1.45, 4.25)], and food insecurity [AOR = 2.23, 95 % CI (1.626, 3.1)] were strongly significant variables for the minimum dietary diversity of the child.The proportion of the minimum dietary diversity was relatively low. Mother's educational status, low birth intervals, and food insecurity were significant predictors of minimum dietary diversity. The stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, Regional Health Offices, and agricultural sectors, prioritize enhancing child nutrition through targeted food-based approaches. Developing and implementing comprehensive intervention programs to improve children's Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD) should be a central focus.Professionals should be strengthening nutrition education to promote optimal MDD practices.

    Keywords: Children, dietary diversity, dietary practice, Minimum dietary diversity, Ethiopia

    Received: 02 Aug 2024; Accepted: 02 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Mulatu, Workie, Ejigu, Dinku, Tadesse and Gedif. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Sileshi Mulatu, College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, Bahir Dar, Amhara Region, Ethiopia

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