Minimum dietary diversity and associated factors among children aged 6-23 months in Ghana: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Abstract Background: The golden period in the first 1000 days of life is between the ages of 6 and 23 months. This period is referred to as a critical window because it promotes the optimal growth and development of the child. However, the nutritional status of children in this critical period is strongly influenced by their feeding patterns, which in turn has an impact on their survival. Inappropriate supplementary feeding techniques put children under the age of two at danger of malnutrition, illness, and death. This study therefore, assesses the minimum dietary diversity and its associated factors among children between the age 6-23 months in the Hohoe Municipality, in the Volta Region of Ghana. Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted from April to July 2021. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to sample 422 study participants. Data were collected with a paper-based questionnaire, coded and entered into Epi-Data version 3.1. Data extraction was carried out in Excel Sheet for cleaning and then later exported into STATA V.16.0 for analysis. Logistic regression was fitted to identify significant factors associated with high MDD at 95% CI and a p-value < 0.05. Results:Out of the 422 participants, majority of them 343 (81.0%) had good dietary practices. The prevalence of MDD among the children was 17.1%. On the other hand, the educational level of mothers [cOR=3.12 (95% CI: 1.57-6.19), p=0.001], their ethnicity [cOR=4.69 (95% CI: 1.55-14.19), p=0.006], their occupation [cOR=2.18 (95% CI: 1.15-4.11), p=0.017] and their dietary practices [cOR= 0.72 (95% CI: 0.13-3.92), p=0.008] were found to be significantly associated with children’s MDD. After controlling for other co-variates, only educational level [aOR=3.16 (95% CI: 0.75-13.29), p=0.001] and ethnicity [aOR=24.72 (1.43-15.64), p=0.011] were statistically associated with children’s high MDD. Conclusion: The study concludes that while MDD was low among the children, breastfeeding was common but gaps existed in providing essential food groups, with significant influences from maternal education and ethnicity, highlighting the need for targeted interventions to enhance dietary practices for children aged 6-23 months.