Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 5;17(4):e0265899.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265899. eCollection 2022.

Individual and community-level factors associated with animal source food consumption among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia: Multilevel mixed effects logistic regression model

Hassen Ali Hamza  1 , Abdu Oumer  2 , Robel Hussen Kabthymer  3 , Yeshimebet Ali  4 , Abbas Ahmed Mohammed  5 , Mohammed Feyisso Shaka  3 , Kenzudin Assefa  2
Affiliations

Individual and community-level factors associated with animal source food consumption among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia: Multilevel mixed effects logistic regression model

Hassen Ali Hamza et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Background: Diversified diet in childhood has irreplaceable role for optimal growth. However, multi-level factors related to low animal source food consumption among children were poorly understood in Ethiopia, where such evidences are needed for decision making.

Objectives: To investigate the magnitude and individual- and community-level predictors of animal source food (ASF) consumption among children aged 6-23 months in Ethiopia.

Methods: We utilized a cross-sectional pooled data from 2016/19 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Surveys. A stratified two-stage cluster design was employed to select households with survey weights were applied to account for complex sample design. We fitted mixed-effects logit regression models on 4,423 children nested within 645 clusters. The fixed effect models were fitted and expressed as adjusted odds ratio with their 95% confidence intervals and measures of variation were explained by intra-class correlation coefficients, median odds ratio and proportional change in variance. The deviance information criterion and Akaike information Criterion were used as model fitness criteria.

Result: in Ethiopia, only 22.7% (20.5%-23.9%) of children aged 6-23 months consumed ASF. Younger children aged 6-8 months (AOR = 3.1; 95%CI: 2.4-4.1), home delivered children (AOR = 1.8; 1.4-2.3), from low socioeconomic class (AOR = 2.43; 1.7-3.5); low educational level of mothers (AOR = 1.9; 95%CI: 1.48-2.45) and children from multiple risk pregnancy were significant predictors of low animal source consumption at individual level. While children from high community poverty level (AOR = 1.53; 1.2-1.95); rural residence (AOR = 2.2; 95%CI: 1.7-2.8) and pastoralist areas (AOR = 5.4; 3.4-8.5) significantly predict animal source food consumption at community level. About 38% of the variation of ASF consumption is explained by the combined predictors at the individual and community-level while 17.8% of the variation is attributed to differences between clusters.

Conclusions: This study illustrates that the current ASF consumption among children is poor and a multiple interacting individual- and community level factors determine ASF consumption. In designing and implementing nutritional interventions addressing diversified diet consumption shall give a due consideration and account for these potential predictors of ASF consumption.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interest.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. ASF consumption by household wealth status among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia.
Fig 2
Fig 2. Interregional variation in ASF consumption among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Arthur S.S., Nyide B., Soura A.B., Kahn K., Weston M., et al., Tackling malnutrition: a systematic review of 15-year research evidence from INDEPTH health and demographic surveillance systems. Global health action, 2015. 8(1): p. 28298. doi: 10.3402/gha.v8.28298 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (CSA), Mini Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, in Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey, ICF, Editor 2019, Central Statistical Agency: Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
    1. Wells J.C., Sawaya A.L., Wibaek R., Mwangome M., Poullas M.S., et al., The double burden of malnutrition: aetiological pathways and consequences for health. The Lancet, 2020. 395(10217): p. 75–88. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(19)32472-9 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Schwarzenberg S. and Georgieff M.K., Advocacy for improvng nutrition in the first 1000 days to support childhood development and adult health. Pediatrics, 2018. 141(2): p. e20173716. doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-3716 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barker D.J. and Thornburg K.L., Placental programming of chronic diseases, cancer and lifespan: a review. Placenta, 2013. 34(10): p. 841–5. doi: 10.1016/j.placenta.2013.07.063 - DOI - PubMed