Abstract
BackgroundInadequate feeding practices are a significant reason for the onset of malnutrition in young children, and their consequences are one of the major obstacles to sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. Dietary diversity is one of the useful indicators to assess the nutrient adequacy and can examine how different food groups contribute to the nutrient adequacy of the diet in a specific area. Minimum dietary diversity is the intake of at least four food types from the seven categories.MethodsSecondary data analysis of Ethiopian Demographic health survey of 2016 was conducted to explore significant predictors that make children inappropriate to meet minimum dietary diversity. There were 2972 weighted samples, and we have used “SVY” command by STATA 14.0 during data analysis to run the complex survey data. This study has identified the possible factors of inadequate minimum dietary diversity of children.ResultsThe proportion of inadequate minimum dietary diversity in Ethiopia was found 85.1%. Frequency of reading newspaper or magazine, frequency of listening to radio, father’s educational level and household wealth index were found significant predictors to determine the minimum dietary diversity of children. Dairy products and grain, roots and tubers account more than half of consumed foods. Among breastfed children who attained minimum dietary diversity, majority of them were in the age group of 6–11 months.ConclusionsMinimum dietary diversity is still low in Ethiopia, and most of mothers feed their child the most and easy accessible food rather than of diverse food. In the way of addressing the Sustainable Development Goal, Ethiopia requires substantial improvement in complementary feeding practices. Appropriate infant and young child feeding messages should to be developed and delivered through mass media.
Highlights
Inadequate feeding practices are a significant reason for the onset of malnutrition in young children, and their consequences are one of the major obstacles to sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty reduction
Source of data The present study examined the 2016 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (2016 Ethiopia demographic health survey (EDHS)), which is the fourth in a series of Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Ethiopia in 2000, 2005 and 2011
In our study, the minimum dietary diversity was 14.9% which is slightly higher than the EDHS report of 13.8%
Summary
Inadequate feeding practices are a significant reason for the onset of malnutrition in young children, and their consequences are one of the major obstacles to sustainable socioeconomic development and poverty reduction. Inappropriate feeding practices are a significant reason for the onset of malnutrition in young children [2]. Stunting is one of the main reasons that may make children never grow to their full height, and their brains may never develop to their full cognitive potential [3]. During the year of 2017, 51 million children under the age of five were wasted (too light for their height) which is a major cause of burden preventing children who survive from reaching their full development potential [4]
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