Factors associated with minimum dietary diversity and meal frequency among children aged 6-59 months in northwest Ethiopia: finding from the baseline survey of nutrition project

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 stratified sampling followed by a systematic random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. A binary logistic regression model was fitted 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 significant 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 first 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.