Minimum dietary diversity and its associated factors among children of 6–23 months in rural Ethiopia 2023

Dietary diversity is a useful proxy indicator of diet quality and nutrient adequacy, which plays an important role in children's growth and development. Meeting the standard of dietary diversity remains a challenge in developing countries. In Ethiopia, including the study area, there is limited evidence on dietary diversity and associated factors in children aged 6-23 months. Minimum dietary diversity and its associated factors among children of 6-23 months. A Community -based cross-sectional study design was conducted from April 11, 2023 to May 20, 2023 among 597 study participants. Nutrition counseling was measured through various metrics such as attendance rates, client satisfaction and feedback, the number of sessions per month or year, and the duration of each session. Face-to-face interviews were conducted by structured questionnaire, and the data were entered into Epi-data version 3.1 software. Later, IBM SPSS version 27 was used to perform bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. To check for multicollinearity, the variance inflation factors (VIF) were used. The Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness of fit test was used to assess model fitness. Adjusted odds ratios and their 95% confidence intervals were used to identify statistically significant factors at P values 0.05. The results showed that the prevalence of acceptable dietary diversity was 35.5% [95% CI 31.5, 39.7]. The study also found that factors such as equal decision-making power (AOR: 2.46, 95% CI (1, 24, 4.9)), participation in cooking demonstrations (AOR = 1.61, 95% CI (1.10, 2.363), attendance at ANC follow-ups (AOR = 5.027, 95% CI (2.02, 12.46)), have nutrition counseling (AOR = 2.450, 95% CI (1.32), 4.54), food secured family (AOR = 2.7, 95% CI (1.8, 4.06), and child growth and development-monitoring behavior (AOR = 1.8, 95% CI 1.24, 2.6) were significantly associated with unacceptable dietary diversity. The study found that factors such as equal decision-making power, participation in cooking demonstrations, ANC follow-ups, nutrition counseling, food security, and monitoring child growth significantly influence dietary diversity. It recommends implementing strategies to promote dietary diversity and health for children aged 6-23 months, providing nutritional information to lactating mothers, and empowering mothers to alleviate food insecurity through home gardening.