Feeding practice and associated factors among infants and children with common childhood illness at Dabat Health and Demographic surveillance System site: A community based cross-sectional study

Abstract Background: Optimal feeding practices are recommended to improve nutritional status and prevent the common childhood illnesses. Studies on the feeding practice of children including meal frequency and dietary diversity are scarce in children with illness. Therefore, we aimed to assess feeding practice and its associated factors among children aged 6-59 months in Dabat Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) site, northwest Ethiopia. Methods : A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in 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 children’s feeding practice. A crude odds ratio and adjusted odds ratio with its 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated to see the strength of association and significance of the identified factors 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: 91.7, 86.0), 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 an adequate dietary diversity in children. 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 during maternal ANC services and delivery period are recommended for achieving the recommended dietary practices.