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. 2025 Aug 18;25(1):1092.
doi: 10.1186/s12913-025-13297-1.

Access to child-feeding counseling service and determinant factors among breastfeeding mothers in Ethiopia: a multilevel complex data analysis of 2019 Ethiopian mini demographic and health survey

Mohammed Seid Ali  1   2 , Tewodros Getaneh Alemu  3 , Tadesse Tarik Tamir  3 , Almaz Tefera Gonete  3 , Berhan Tekeba  3 , Enyew Getaneh Mekonen  4 , Masresha Asmare Techane  3 , Belayneh Shetie Workneh  5 , Mulugeta Wassie  6 , Alemneh Tadesse Kassie  7 , Alebachew Ferede Zegeye  8
Affiliations

Access to child-feeding counseling service and determinant factors among breastfeeding mothers in Ethiopia: a multilevel complex data analysis of 2019 Ethiopian mini demographic and health survey

Mohammed Seid Ali et al. BMC Health Serv Res. .

Abstract

Background: Inappropriate child-feeding practices lead to child morbidity and mortality in many countries around the world. In many low- and middle-income countries, mothers often lack access to appropriate child-feeding counseling services within healthcare settings. While several studies have examined recommended infant and child feeding practices, there is insufficient information regarding the accessibility of child-feeding counseling services in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the accessibility of child-feeding counseling services and determinant factors among breastfeeding mothers in Ethiopia.

Methods: The total weighted samples of 3979 participants were included in this study. The data were taken from the 2019 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). A multilevel multivariable logistic regression model was used to identify the determinant factors of child-feeding counseling services. Excel and STATA-14 software were used for the data management and analysis. In the multivariable multilevel analysis, the adjusted odds ratio with a 95% CI was used to declare significant determinants of child-feeding counseling services.

Result: The prevalence of child-feeding counseling services among mothers in Ethiopia during the 2019 EDHS was 36.94%. In multivariable multilevel analysis, the significant factors associated with child-feeding counseling service were wealth index (AOR = 1.46; 95 CI (1.04-2.06)), maternal education; primary education (AOR = 1.27; 95% CI (1.03-1.58)), secondary and higher education (AOR = 1.56; 95% CI (1.17-2.08)), place of delivery; higher odds was observed among mothers who delivered at health institution (AOR = 8.4; 95% CI (6.73-10.49)), marital status; ever married (AOR = 3.28; 95 CI (1.12-9.59)), place of residence (AOR = 2.06; 95% CI (1.39-3.05)), community poverty level; middle (AOR = 1.38; 95% CI (1.07-1.78)), richer (AOR = 1.54 (1.19-1.99)), antenatal care visits; 1-4 visits (AOR = 2.90; 95% CI (2.21-3.84)), 5-8 visits (AOR = 3.33; 95% CI (2.40-4.61)), and more than 8 visits (AOR = 3.40; 95% CI (1.79-6.46)), the regions, Tigray (AOR = 2.65; 95% CI (1.36-5.14)), Afar (AOR = 2.57; 95% CI (1.34-4.92)), Amhara (AOR = 1.94; 95% CI (1.02-3.65)), and Addis Ababa (AOR = 3.9; 95% CI (1.84-8.28)).

Conclusion and recommendation: Child-feeding counseling service among breastfeeding mothers was low and requires immediate attention to promote healthy child-feeding practices by improving the accessibility of the counseling service. The determinant factors were an important input to developing strategies for improving the accessibility of child-feeding counseling services in the country.

Keywords: Breastfeeding; Child-feeding; Counseling service EDHS; Ethiopia.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: In obtaining the microdata, a request was made on online to the DHS program website http://www.dhsprogram.com on September 10, 2023, and approval was granted to download the; hence, there were no ethical issues of concern. The data used in this study was freely available and did not contain any personal information, no IRB approval needed for this study. The research was done based on a secondary data from EDHS. Issues of informed consent, confidentiality, anonymity and privacy of the study sample already done ethically by the EDHS authority and we did not manipulate and use the data for other issues. There was no patient or public involvement in this study. We have read the BMC Health Services Research journal’s current research ethics guidelines, and accept responsibility for the conduct of the procedures in accordance with the journals. We have attempted to identify all the risks related to this research that may arise in conducting this research, obtained the relevant ethical and/or safety approval (where applicable), and acknowledged our obligations and the rights of the participants by the demography and health survey program authorities. The research is conducted in accordance with the declaration of Helsinki. Consent for publication: Not Applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Regional distribution of access to child feeding counseling service among breastfeeding mothers in Ethiopia, EDHS 2019 (n = 3, 979)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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