Minimum dietary diversity and associated factors among 6-23 months children in rural community, Southern Ethiopia: a cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Lack of dietary diversity especially for children 6-23 months is critical because they require energy and nutrient-dense foods for both physical, mental growth and development. However, in many low-income countries particularly in rural area, at least meeting the minimum dietary diversity standard has been a major challenge. Therefore, this study aimed to assess minimum dietary diversity and associated factors among 6-23 months children in rural community of Kacha Bira district, Southern Ethiopia.Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was employed on 623 children aged 6-23 months. Two stages cluster sampling method was conducted to select study population. Pre-tested and interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Data were entered and cleaned by Epi data 3.1, then exported to SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) version 20 for statistical analysis. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was employed using a p-value < 0.25 and < 0.05, respectively. Results: In this study, the day before data collection 46.1% (95% CI: 42.1-50.0) of 6-23 months children were fed on adequately diversified diets. Maternal age 18-24 years [AOR=3.68(95%CI: 1.18, 6.22)], post-natal care follow up [AOR=8.8 (95%CI: 5.17, 14.98)], children 6-11 months age [AOR=2.04(95%CI: 1.24, 3.39)] and being household food secured [AOR=3.64(95%CI: 2.27, 5.84)] were associated with dietary diversity.Conclusions: In the study area less than half of 6-23 months children were fed on adequately diversified diets, which is very low. All mothers should be encouraged to make postnatal care follow up and measures should take to improve food security of the household.