Level of Knowledge and Practice of Mothers on Minimum Dietary Diversity Practices and Associated Factors for 6-23-Month-Old Children in Adea Woreda, Oromia, Ethiopia.

Background . Globally, undernutrition is responsible for at least 35% of deaths in children less than 5 years of age and estimated 6% of under-five deaths can be prevented by ensuring optimal complementary feeding especially the dietary diversity and meal frequency. In Ethiopia, 5% of children were fed according to minimum standards with respect to food diversity. Objective . To assess the level of knowledge and practice of mothers on dietary diversity practices and associated factors for children 6-23 months in Adea woreda. Methods . Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. A sample of 730 mothers who have children in the age group of 6-23 months were selected using systematic sampling. Logistic regression model was fitted in order to identify factors associated with knowledge and practice of dietary diversity practice. Result . Of the total 700, 357 (51%) were knowledgeable on dietary diversity but 112 (16%) practiced appropriate dietary diversity practice for their 6-23-month-old children. Husbands' education (AOR = 2.79, 95% CI = (1.55, 5.00)), mothers' age, and marital status were significantly associated with knowledge of mothers. Mothers' age, husbands' education, marital status, and knowledge of mothers were significantly associated with mothers' dietary diversity for 6-23-month-old children. Conclusion . This study showed that approximately half of the mothers have good knowledge on minimum dietary diversity for children 6-23 months old and very low proportion of children 6-23 months old received diversified meal according to Infant and Young Child Feeding indicators. It was identified that different factors are responsible for this discrepancy.