Differential Determinants of Dairy, Egg, and Meat Consumption Among Children Aged 6 to 23 Months in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia: A Secondary Data Analysis

BackgroundAnimal-source foods (ASFs) are critical for addressing child undernutrition, yet consumption remains low in Ethiopia. Prevailing evidence often aggregates ASFs, potentially obscuring the unique socioeconomic and demographic determinants of specific, nutrient-rich foods like dairy, eggs, and meat.ObjectiveThis secondary analysis aimed to compare the determinants of dairy, egg, and meat/poultry consumption among children aged 6 to 23 months in Harar City, Eastern Ethiopia, using existing cross-sectional data.MethodsThis secondary analysis utilized data from an institution-based cross-sectional study conducted among 542 mother-child pairs from July to August 2024. The original data were collected electronically via structured questionnaires. For this analysis, consumption of each ASF (dairy, eggs, meat/poultry) in the preceding 24 h was the primary outcome. Separate multivariable logistic regression models identified adjusted factors associated with each food type. The very low prevalence of meat/poultry consumption (4.5%) limits statistical power for detecting associations.ResultsConsumption prevalence was 28.6% for dairy, 15.0% for eggs, and 4.5% for meat/poultry. Household wealth exhibited a strong, positive gradient for all ASFs, most pronounced for eggs (richest vs poorest: Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] = 3.50, 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 1.33-9.24). Maternal primary education was significantly associated with higher odds of dairy (AOR = 1.93, 95% CI: 1.17-3.19) and egg consumption (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.26-5.05) but not meat. Large family size (≥7 members) was a major constraint, reducing the odds of egg consumption by 70% (AOR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.13-0.74).ConclusionsThe socioeconomic and demographic determinants of ASF consumption are not uniform but are distinctly patterned by food type. Nutrition-sensitive interventions must therefore be equally specific, combining economic strategies to improve affordability with targeted education-particularly for dairy and eggs-while addressing intrahousehold food allocation in larger families.