Abstract:
Background: Studies on the feeding practice of children, including meal frequency and dietary diversity
are scarce among children. Therefore, this study aimed to assess dietary diversity and meal frequency
and associated factors among children aged 6-59 months at Dabat Health and Demographic
Surveillance System (HDSS) site, northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted at Dabat HDSS site from February to
June 2016 on 1,174 mother-child pairs. A multistage strati¦ed sampling followed by a systematic
random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. A binary logistic regression
model was ¦tted to identify factors associated with dietary diversity and meal frequency. Variables
having a p-value < 0.2 in the bivariate logistic regression were entered into multivariate logistic regression
and a p-value < 0.05 were considered statistically signi¦cant with feeding practices.
Result: The overall prevalence of a minimum dietary diversity practice and a minimum meal frequency
was 27 % (95%CI: 24.4, 29.7) and 83.7 % (95%CI: 86.0, 91.7), respectively. Having antenatal care (ANC)
service (AOR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.18, 2.27) and institutional delivery (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.85, 3.55) increased
odds of adequate dietary diversity. On the contrary, the odds of practicing an adequate dietary diversity
was lower among a household obtained food from home gardens (AOR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.29, 0.52) and
currently breast fed children (AOR = 0.6; 95% CI: 0.42, 0.78). The probability of having a minimum meal
frequency was decreased among children in the ¦rst two years of age (AOR = 0.1; 95% CI: 0.06, 0.15),
however increased in children who fed alone (AOR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.29, 2.69).
Conclusion: The proportion of children who received the minimum dietary diversity was low while the
proportion of children who obtained minimum meal frequency was good. Providing a health and nutrition
counseling on Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) during maternal ANC services and delivery period
are recommended for achieving the recommended dietary practices
