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Background: Studies have shown maternal education to be one of the key determinants of infant and young child survival. Child survival, among many other components, comprises of optimal feeding practices such as adequate dietary diversity. Dietary diversity has been proven to indicate micronutrient adequacy, which in turn is quintessential to the optimal growth and development of a healthy infant.
Objective: The current study aims to examine maternal education as a predictor on dietary diversity of children aged 6 – 23 months in Southern Ethiopia.
Methods: This is a secondary data analysis of a cross-sectional survey conducted in Southern Ethiopia in 2014. Dietary diversity scores were calculated using a 24-hour food recall narrated by the mothers and further categorized into minimum and below minimum diversity. Maternal education was categorized into never attended, 1st – 4th grade and 5th grade and beyond. Logistic regression model was employed since the outcome is a categorical variable. Confounding factors that potentially influence dietary diversity were also fitted into the model.
Results: There was a significant association between maternal education and child dietary diversity. Mothers with at least primary level schooling (1 – 4th) were more than 4 times more likely to achieve minimum DD for their children (AOR 4.06; 95% CI 1.58, 10.41) while those with 5th grade and above education level were more than 3 times more likely (AOR 3.20; 95% CI 1.22, 8.40) than those who never attended school.
Conclusion & recommendation: This study led to the conclusion that children of mothers who never attended school have a compromised nutritional diversity. Nutrition programs need to provide the necessary support such as counseling on appropriate feeding practices and live cooking demonstrations to this specific group of mothers who have never attended school in order to meet nutritional goals of their children.
........................................ Thesis available at ACIPH Library |
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