Child Feeding Practices and Their Correlates in Ethiopia

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Date

2003-06

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Addis Ababa University

Abstract

The 2000 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data are employed to asses correlates of child feeding practices, and nutritional status of child using logistic regression model. Breast-feeding is nearly universal about 81 of children aged 0 - 36 months were breast-feeding at the time the study but the introduction of complementary foods much to early, only 54 percent of the index children under the age of 6 months are exclusively breast-fed. The first milk (colostrums) is an ideal food for newly born child and the children should fed but less than 50 percent (46.8%) were fed colostrums. Breast milk is not sufficient for children after 6 months of age and additional food should be given; however, 42.5 percent of the study children aged 6 and months received complementary foods The study also found that 54 percent of children were stunted. There is considerable variation in the prevalence of malnutrition by region. malnutrition where as Addis Ababa and Diredawa have the lowest prevalence of malnutrition. The result of logistic analysis found the selected demographic and socioeconomic factors that have the significant effect on child feeding and child malnutrition. Predictors of child feeding variables include maternal education,place of delivery and mothers' age, and predictors of child malnutrition in Ethiopia are chi ld 's bi rth interval, mothers' education, number of other under five children within a household, region and chil d feeding practices. Children of longer birth interval are less likely to be malnourished. Children whose mother are more educated and ch ildren who live in Addis Ababa are tend to be better nourished than other children. Sex of child had no effect on chi ld malnutrition even though female ch ildren are somewhat more malnourished than male children of their counterpart

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Child Feeding, Correlates in Ethiopia

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