Hindawi

Advances in Public Health

Volume 2017, Article ID 4567829, 8 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/4567829

Research Article
Complementary Feeding Practice and Associated
Factors among Mothers Having Children 6–23 Months of Age,
Lasta District, Amhara Region, Northeast Ethiopia

Menberu Molla,1 Tadese Ejigu,2 and Girma Nega3

1
Save the Children International, West Amhara, P.O. Box 993, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
2
School of Public Health (SPH), College of Medicine and Health Sciences, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 79, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
3
School of Food and Chemical Engineering, Department of Applied Nutrition, Bahir Dar University, P.O. Box 26, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia

Correspondence should be addressed to Tadese Ejigu; tade [email protected]

Received 14 December 2016; Accepted 14 February 2017; Published 21 March 2017

Academic Editor: Ronald J. Prineas

Copyright © 2017 Menberu Molla et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Introduction. The first two years of life are a critical window of opportunity for ensuring optimal child growth and development.
Nutritional deficiencies during this period can lead to impaired cognitive development, compromised educational achievement, and
low economic productivity. Improving infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in children aged 0–23 months is therefore
critical to improved nutrition, health, and development. Objective. The aim of the study is to assess the prevalence of complementary
feeding practice and its associated factors among mothers with children aged 6−23 months in Lasta District, Northeast Ethiopia,
2015. Methods. A community based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 476 mothers who had children aged 6–23
months in the study area. Simple random sampling technique was used to select the required sample. A face-to-face interview
was done to collect data using structured questionnaire. Data were entered with EPI info version 3.5.1 and cleaning and analysis
were done using SPSS version 16. Frequencies distribution and binary and multiple logistic regressions were done. Results. In this
study only 56.5% of children aged 6–23 months received appropriate complementary feeding, considering timely introduction,
minimum dietary diversity, and meal frequency. Exposure to public media [AOR = 2.50; 95% CI: 1.44, 4.35], occupation of mother
[AOR = 9.50; 95% CI: 1.02, 14.25], mothers decision making role on how to use family income [AOR = 5.54; 95% CI: 1.19, 11.74],
and use of postnatal care service [AOR = 5.98; 95% CI: 1.49, 13.96] were found to be independent predictors of complementary
feeding practice. Conclusion and Recommendation. About 43.5% of mothers were not feeding their children complementary food
appropriately, which would have negative implication on the health of infants and young children. There was a statistically significant
association of inappropriate complementary feeding practices with mothers’ occupation, postnatal care service, media exposure,
and mothers’ decision making role on how the money is used. Health professionals should focus on advising and counseling mothers
on appropriate complementary feeding during prenatal, delivery, postnatal, and immunization services.

1. Introduction aged 0–23 months is therefore critical to improved nutrition,

health, and development [3–5].
An appropriate diet is a critical component for proper growth Scientific evidence indicates that various inappropriate
and development of children. The first two years of life are a complementary feeding practices such as untimely introduc-
critical window for ensuring optimal child growth and devel- tion of complementary food, improper feeding frequency,
opment [1, 2]. Nutritional deficiencies during this period and low dietary diversity of complementary food have been
can lead to impaired cognitive development, compromised shown to have numerous negative effects on children’s health
educational achievement, and low economic productivity [6]. Appropriate complementary feeding entails introduction
which become difficult to reverse later in life. Improving of complementary foods at 6 months with continued breast-
infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices in children feeding up to at least 2 years and beyond, feeding frequency
2 Advances in Public Health

for age, and consumption of a diverse diet [2, 5, 6]. For this experts to check consistency. Pretest of the questionnaire
study the following definitions were considered: introduction was made on (5%) of the sample size in kebeles out of the
of solid, semisolid, or soft foods and proportion of infants main study area, two days’ training for data collectors and
aged six months who receive solid, semisolid, or soft foods the supervisor on how to approach the respondents and how
during the previous day. Minimum dietary diversity was to conduct interview based on the objective of the study. In
assessed by proportion of children of 6–23 months who addition the filled questionnaires were also checked daily by
receive four or more food groups during the previous day. the supervisor for completeness and missing data to maintain
Food groups used for tabulation of this indicator were cereals, the data quality. The collected data were coded and entered
legumes, dairy products (milk, yoghurt, and cheese), flesh into Epi info version 3.5.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 16.
foods (meat, fish, poultry, and liver/organ meats), eggs, vita- Descriptive statics (frequency, mean, median, standard devi-
min A-rich fruits and vegetables, butter/oil, and sugar/honey. ation, range, and percentage) was used for sociodemography
Minimum meal frequency was assessed by proportion of chil- and economic characteristics, maternal health care services
dren aged 6–23 months who receive solid, semisolid, or soft of the population, knowledge, and complementary feeding
food three times or more in the previous day. Complementary practices. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was
feeding practice was considered appropriate if the mother used in order to identify predictive variables and odds ratio
practices all the above three indicators, as recommended and (OR) with 95% confidence interval and 𝑝 value was used as
inappropriate complementary feeding practice if at least one measure of the strength of association. Finally the variables
indicator was not fulfilled. which have significant association were identified on the basis
of OR, 95% CI, and 𝑝 value < 0.2 to identify eligible variables
2. Methods to fit into the final regression model and 𝑝 value < 0.05 was
used to identify predictor variables.
2.1. Study Area. Community based cross-sectional study
design was used to determine complementary feeding prac- 3. Results
tices of children aged 6–23 months in Lasta District, Amhara
Region, Ethiopia. Lasta District is found in North Wollo zone 3.1. Sociodemographic Characteristics of Study Participants.
300 km away from Bahir Dar town which is the capital city Among 476 sampled mothers, 470 participated in the
of the region and the district has a total population size of study, making the response rate (98.7%). Biological mothers
115,880 people of which 56,781 females (49%), 15,690 children accounted for 471 (99%) whereas the remaining 5 (1%) were
of 0–59 months (13%), 5,852 <2 years (5%), 4165 6–23 months caregivers such as grandmothers and sisters. The median
(district health office report 2015). The district has 24 health age of mothers/caregivers was 29 ± 6.7 years with age range
posts and 6 HCs. It is the fourth largest district in North Wollo between 15 and 70. Four hundred seventy two (99%) were
zone and ranked among the most food insecure districts in Orthodox and four (1%) were Muslim by religion and four
the region (Lasta Woreda Health Office Data 2015). And the hundred sixty six (98%) belong to Amhara ethnic group
woreda has exposed for drought and degraded land. The main and ten (2%) were Tigre. Concerning the educational status
economic activities are small scale trading and farming (CSA, of the mothers, 126 (26%) had attended formal school. The
2013). The area was chosen because most of the children majority of the mothers, 418 (88%), were married and 310
were likely to be predisposed to suboptimal complementary (65.1%) of mothers were farmers by occupation. More than
feeding practices due to unknown factors that cause improper three-fourths, 435 (91.4%), of mothers earned an average
complementary feeding practices. monthly income of less than or equal to 999 Ethiopian Birr
The district has 23 rural kebeles and of these 5 such (<47 USD). Husbands of 153 (32%) mothers had attended
as Yemrehanna-kristos, Bilballa, Geter Meda, Tilasefere, and formal education. The median age of children was 16 months
Shimsha kebeles (21%) were selected randomly based on the ± 5.7 with age range between 6 and 23 (Table 1).
rule of thumb for community based research. The lists of all
study participants (mothers) were obtained from beneficiary 3.2. Obstetrics and Health Service Related Variables. Almost
folder of Food for Hungry Ethiopia (FHE) that provides food all, 463 (97%), mothers had history of antenatal care follow-
support for the area. Sample size was computed based on sin- up at least once during their last pregnancy. About, 51%
gle population proportion formula assuming the prevalence of mothers gave birth to their youngest child at health
(𝑝) 0.10 which was taken from a previous community based institution. Majority of the mothers (95%) had received
study at Abyi Adi town, Tigray, Ethiopia [7]. A 𝑧-value of 1.96 postnatal care (PNC) at least once.
was used at 95% confidence level and margin of error of 4%
with 10% nonresponse rate and design effect of 2. Thus the 3.3. Complementary Feeding Knowledge and Practices. Ap-
total sample size was 476. Then the study participants from proximately, 97% (462/476) of mothers had satisfactory
selected five kebeles were taken by considering proportional knowledge and the remaining 1.6% (8/476) had poor knowl-
to size. edge about complementary feeding. However 56.5% of moth-
Seven diploma nurses and one BSC nurse were recruited ers had appropriate complementary feeding practice. Three
in data collection and supervision, respectively. A structured hundred forty two (71.8%) mothers were inaccessible for
and pretested questionnaire was used to collect the data. The complementary foods. Cereals (96.6%), legumes (93.3%),
questioner was prepared in English and translated to local oil/butter (87.7%), and honey/sugar (79.6%) were the most
language “Amharic” and back to English by two language commonly taken food item by the children in 24 hours
Advances in Public Health 3

Table 1: Sociodemocratic, obstetric, and health related variables of mothers who had children aged 6–23 months (𝑛 = 476) in Lasta Woreda,
Amhara, Northeast Ethiopia, April 2015 to October 2015.

Variable Categories Frequency Percentage

<20 46 9.7
20–24 64 13.4
Mothers’ age 25–29 125 26.3
30–34 113 23.7
≥35 128 26.9
Married 419 88.0
Single 16 3.4
Marital status
Divorced 35 7.4
Widowed 6 1.3
Orthodox 472 99
Religion
Muslim 4 1
Illiterate 307 64.5
Read and write 43 9.0
1–4 29 6.1
Mothers’ educational status
5–8 51 10.7
9–12 43 9.0
College/university 3 .6
Government employed 9 1.9
Private employed 4 .8
Merchant 26 5.5
Housewife 105 22.1
Mothers’ occupation
Farmer 310 65.1
Daily laborer 6 1.3
Student 2 .4
Housemaid 14 2.9
≤999 435 91.4
1000–2999 35 7.4
Monthly income (ETB)
3000–3999 4 .8
≥4000 2 .4
6–11 98 20.6
Child’s age in months 12–17 129 27.1
18–23 249 52.3
1–3 473 99.4
Number of children
4–9 3 .6
Yes 456 95.5
ANC follow-up
No 20 4.2
Home 232 48.7
Place of delivery
Health institution 244 51.2
Yes 454 95.4
Postnatal care
No 22 4.6

preceding the survey. However, the consumption of different 50.4 mothers fed their children ≥ three times a day (the
food types in 24 hours preceding the survey was uniformly recommended frequency) (Figure 2). The overall prevalence
lower in 18–23 months age group, with the lowest rates of appropriate complementary feeding practice combining
reported for flesh foods (2.1%) (Table 2). In addition about the three mentioned indicators was 56.5%.
57.7% of mothers had introduced complementary feeding at
the age of six months as per the recommended (Figure 1). 3.4. Factors Associated with Complementary Feeding. This
And 60.7 mothers offered four or more food groups (the section includes the results of multivariable analysis done
minimum recommended diversity) to their child and only between the independent variables (sociodemographic and
4 Advances in Public Health

Table 2: Types of food given to children aged 6–23 months in the past 24 hours by age groups (𝑛 = 476) Lasta Woreda, Amhara, Northeast
Ethiopia, April 2015 to October 2015.

Age of the child in months

Food groups 6–11 12–17 18–23
Yes (%) No (%) Yes (%) No (%) Yes (%) No (%)
Cereals 94.9 5.1 96.9 3.1 97.2 2.8
Legumes 93.9 6.1 93.8 6.2 93.2 6.8
Milk/milk product 13.3 86.7 10.1 89.9 9.6 90.4
Meat/fish/chicken 5.1 94.9 3.9 96.1 2.1 98.0
Egg 52.0 48.0 41.1 58.9 34.9 65.1
Other fruits and vegetable 43.9 56.1 49.6 50.4 35.7 64.3
Honey/sugar 87.8 12.2 77.5 22.5 77.5 22.5
Butter/oil 89.8 10.2 91.5 8.5 84.7 15.3

1.2% 2.1% 120

100
80
60
40
39% 20
0

Meat/fish/chicken

Other fruits and vegetable

Butter/oil
Cereals

Legumes

Egg

Honey/sugar
Milk/milk product

57.7%

6 up to 11
12 up to 17
18 up to 23

Figure 2: Varieties of foods used for complementary feeding by age

groups, Lasta District, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2015.

Before 6 months Late after 6 months

At 6 months Did not start yet
(62.8%) [9], but it is consistent with a study done in Harar
Figure 1: Time of starting complementary feeding for their children (54.4%) [10]. This relatively higher prevalence might be due
by study participants, Lasta District, Amhara region, Ethiopia, 2015. to practices change with time, the presence of nutrition
intervention program by nongovernmental organization in
the study area, and the efforts of health extension workers,
health professionals, and nutrition animators in the study
other variables) and the outcome variables of interest (com- area.
plementary feeding practice). 𝑝 value of <0.05 at 95% confi- Findings of this study also showed that postnatal follow-
dence level was taken as significant. up, occupation of mothers, exposure to public media (like
radio, television), and mothers’ decision making role on
4. Discussion family income were predictors of complementary feeding
practice. In this study mothers who had postnatal care
The result of the study revealed that the prevalence of follow-up were 5.9 times more likely to practice appropriate
appropriate complementary feeding was 56.5% which is complementary feeding than those who did not follow the
higher than research finding at Abyi Adi town, Tigray, North- service [AOR = 5.98; 95% CI: 1.49, 13.96]. This might be
ern Ethiopia (10.75%) [7], Ethiopian National prevalence due to the fact that health professionals have been educating
(4%) [5], Enemay district, Northwest Ethiopia (40.5%) [8], and advising mothers on child nutrition (complementary
and India (17.5%) [2] and smaller than a study in Mekele feeding practice) during postnatal care. Postnatal care is a
Advances in Public Health 5

good platform for educating and advising mothers about practices was limited access to mass media [18]. On the
feeding of children. contrary community based studies conducted at Abyi Adi
In South Asian countries, like in Bangladesh, India, town, Tigray, Northern Ethiopia, and at Kamba woreda South
Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri-Lanka, the most consistent determi- West Ethiopia found that there is no significant association
nants of complementary feeding practices across all countries between media exposure and complementary feeding prac-
including inadequate antenatal care, mode of delivery, and tice [7, 19]. The difference might be due to time difference of
lack of postnatal contacts by health workers were among the study conducted.
predictors of inappropriate feeding [11–17]. Another commu- This study did not find any statistically significant asso-
nity based cross-sectional study conducted in Tigray at Abi- ciation between complementary feeding practice and sex of
Adi town showed that mothers who followed postnatal care children, education of parents, income, child birth order,
service were 2.8 times more likely to practice appropriate family size, maternal marital status, antenatal care, and place
complementary feeding than those who did not follow the of delivery. The possible limitation of this study might be
service [AOR = 2.86; 95% CI: 1.10, 7.46] [7]. And a study recall bias and social desirability bias as the data was based
conducted at Enemay district, Northwest Ethiopia, found on self-report.
that maternal healthcare services (postnatal care) utilization
was associated with optimal complementary feeding practice 5. Conclusion and Recommendation
(OCFP) [8]. In line with this study another study conducted
in Tanzania also showed that the main risk factor for 5.1. Conclusion
inappropriate complementary feeding practice was lack of
postnatal check-ups [18]. (i) Near half of mothers were not practicing appropriate
Profession of mothers was also another predictor for complementary feeding practice, considering timely
affecting the feeding practices of IYC (infant, young child). introduction, minimum dietary diversity, and fre-
Housewife mothers were found to be about 9.5 times more quency.
likely to practice appropriate complementary feeding in (ii) Mothers’ occupation, postnatal care service utiliza-
comparison to government employees [AOR = 9.50; 95% tion, media exposure, and mothers decision making
CI: 1.02, 14.25] (Table 3). A study conducted in Addis role on family income were the independent predic-
Ababa found that employed mothers were more likely to tors for appropriate complementary feeding practice.
introduce complementary foods before 6 months (AOR =
0.37) compared with mothers who stayed at home [11]. (iii) Majority of mothers/caregivers were not using
Similarly a study conducted at Enemay district supports this meat/fish/chicken and milk/milk products when they
finding that mothers’ occupation was significantly associated prepared complementary foods like porridge to their
with complementary feeding practice [8]. Another study children.
conducted in South West Ethiopia consistent with this study
found that mothers who work as daily workers, farmers, 5.2. Recommendations
merchant, and government employees were less likely to
practice complementary feeding than housewife [19]. For Mothers and Caregivers
This study revealed that women whose husbands only
decide on family income were more likely to have inappro- (i) Mothers who work outside home had better to adopt
priate complementary feeding practice than the women who workplace breastfeeding practices and breast milk
are involved in decision making about how to use family expression in cup to feed the child when they spend
income [AOR = 5.54; 95% CI: 1.19, 11.74] (Table 3). This long time outside their home due to different tasks.
might be due to the reason that mothers are more likely to (ii) Mothers should not miss meat/fish/chicken,
purchase food items in the household and more responsible milk/milk products, and vegetables diversification
for care of children than fathers. In line with this finding while preparing infants’ and young children’s
a study done in Kenya also reported children belonging to porridge.
families where mothers decide on how to use family income
were more likely (chi square test; 𝑝 value = 0.045) to have For Health Extension Workers and Health Professionals
appropriate complementary feeding practice compared with
children belonging to families where mainly husbands were (i) Health professionals should focus on advising and
deciding on family income (36.7%) [20]. counseling mothers on appropriate complementary
This study also revealed that mothers who were exposed feeding during prenatal, delivery, postnatal, and
to public media were 2.5 times more likely to practice immunization services.
complementary feeding than mothers who were not [AOR
= 2.50; 95% CI: 1.44, 4.35] (Table 3). This result is similar to For Government (Policy Makers)
another finding of the study done in Kenya which showed
significant association between public media exposure and (i) Developing motivational factors for mothers who
appropriate complementary feeding practice [20]. Another practice complementary feeding appropriately could
study conducted in Tanzania also indicated that one of the be promotion (advertising) of complementary feed-
main risk factors for inappropriate complementary feeding ing.
6 Advances in Public Health

Table 3: Factors associated with inappropriate complementary feeding practice among mothers who had 6–23-month-old children at Lasta
Woreda, Amharra, Northern Ethiopia, April to October 2015.

Variables (𝑛 = 476) Appropriate 𝑁 (%) Inappropriate 𝑁 (%) COR (95% CI) AOR (95% CI)
Sex of children
Male 175 (75.4%) 57 (24.6) 1 1
Female 199 (81.6) 45 (18.4) 1.44 (.93, 2.24) 1.32 (.78, 2.22)
Child birth order
1–3 273 (82.0) 60 (18.0) 1 1
4–6 97 (72.4) 37 (27.6) 5.69 (1.48, 21.81) .27 (.13, .55)
7–10 4 (44.4) 5 (55.6) 3.28 (.83, 12.87) .25 (.02, 2.60)
Public media exposure
No 36 (35.3) 66 (64.7) 1 1
Yes 158 (42.2) 216 (57.8) 2.44 (1.53, 3.90) 2.50 (1.44, 4.35)∗∗
Mothers decision making role on family income
Mainly husband 29 (87.9) 4 (12.10) 1 1
Only husband 6 (60.0) 4 (40.0) .20 (.04, 1.07) 5.54 (1.19, 11.74)∗
Mainly wife 4 (40.0) 6 (60.0) .09 (.02, .48) .01 (.00, .14)
Only wife 32 (68.1) 15 (31.9) .29 (.089, .99) .20 (.02, 2.61)
Both jointly 303 (80.0) 73 (19.4) .57 (.19, 1.68) .15 (.03, .72)
ANC follow-up
No 363 (80.1) 90 (19.9) 1 1
Yes 4 (40.0) 6 (60.0) .29 (.10, .84) .51 (.22, 1.20)
PNC follow-up
No 90 (80.2) 12 (42.9) 1 1
Yes 364 (19.8) 10 (57.1) .19 (.08, .45) 5.98 (1.49, 13.96)∗
Mothers educational status
Cannot read, write 242 (78.7) 65 (21.3) 1 1
Read & write 32 (74.4) 11 (25.6) .79 (.37, 1.63) .51 (.22, 1.22)
1–4 25 (86.2) 4 (13.8) 1.68 (.56, 4.99) 1.35 (.36, 5.01)
5–8 38 (74.5) 13 (25.5) .79 (.39, 1.56) .60 (.25, 1.46)
9–12 34 (79.1) 9 (20.9) 1.02 (0.46, 2.22) 1.33 (.41, 4.29)
College/university 3 (100.0) 0 (0) 4.34 (.00, . . .) 1.37 (.00, .00)
Mothers occupational status
Government employed 7 (77.8) 2 (22.2) 1 1
Private employed 2 (50.0) 2 (50.0) .29 (.02, 3.52) .44 (.00, 7.45)
Merchant 18 (69.2) 8 (30.8) .64 (.10, 3.80) 1.91 (.19, 8.84)
House wife 89 (84.8) 16 (15.2) 1.59 (.30, 8.35) 9.50 (1.02, 14.25)∗
Farmer 242 (78.1) 68 (21.9) 1.02 (.20, 5.00) 3.56 (.42, 10.45)
Daily laborer 4 (66.7) 2 (33.3) .57 (.06, 5.76) 1.90 (.08, 4.92)
Student 1 (50.0) 1 (50.0) .27 (.01, 6.91) .42 (.01, 7.00)
House maid 11 (78.6) 3 (21.4) 1.05 (.14, 7.93) 2.69 (.22, 3.68)
Maternal marital status
Married 334 (79.9) 84 (20.1) 1 1
Single 11 (68.8) 5 (31.2) 0.55 (0.19, 1.63) 1.87 (.24, 13.73)
Divorced 24 (68.6) 11 (31.4) 0.55 (0.26, 1.16) .92 (.11, 7.83)
Widowed 4 (66.7) 2 (33.3) 0.50 (0.09, 2.79) .23 (.01, 4.29)
Family size
1–4 176 (78.2) 49 (21.8) 1 1
5–8 195 (79.6) 50 (20.4) 1.09 (.68, 1.69) 1.79 (.85, 3.79)
9–11 3 (50.0) 3 (50.0) .28 (.05, 1.42) 1.28 (.08, 2.79)
Advances in Public Health 7

Table 3: Continued.
Variables (𝑛 = 476) Appropriate 𝑁 (%) Inappropriate 𝑁 (%) COR (95% CI) AOR (95% CI)
Place of delivery
Health facility 200 (82.0) 44 (18.0) 1 1
Home 173 (74.9) 58 (25.1) .66 (.42, 1.03) .74 (.43, 1.29)
∗𝑝
-value < 0.05, ∗∗ 𝑝-value < 0.01, COR (Crude odds ratio) AOR (Adjusted odds ratio), CI (confidence interval)
Hosmer and Lemeshow’s goodness-of-fit test was found to be chi-square of 8.147 with 𝑝-value of 0.232 hence the model was good because its 𝑝-value > (0.05).

(ii) Special emphasis should be given in empowering Acknowledgments

women to have a decision making role on family
income using different strategies like public media. The authors would like to thank and sincerely appreciate
study participant, data collectors, supervisors, and Lasta
(iii) Declaring six-month maternal leave after delivery for District authorities.
government employed mothers could be an alterna-
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