Food consumption and dietary diversity associated with breastfeeding mod of children aged 6-23 months in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Abstract

Background. To provide the essential needs that the body requires, it is necessary to consume a variety of foods. In Burkina Faso, little information is available on the diversity of food consumed by children in major’s urban centers. Aim. The objective of this study was to assess the dietary diversity of children aged from 6 to 23 months and the associated determinants. Methods. The study consisted in the analysis of food data through a cross-sectional survey. Sphinx V5, IBM SPSS Statistics 20.0 and XLSTAT 2016 software were used for data entry and processing. Results. The majority of mothers (50.16%) were between 26 and 35 years old and 95.31% lived with a partner. In total, 41.26% of women had secondary education levels while 44.66% were housewives. Breastfed children largely consumed cereals (95.31%), legumins (83.01%) and fruits (77.67%). Non-breastfed children also consumed mainly cereals (92.86%), legumins (85.71%) and fruits (75%). Minimum dietary diversity was achieved by 100% of non-breastfed children with a Mean Dietary Diversity Score (MDDS) of 5.75 groups versus 81.86% for breastfed children with MDDS of 4.45 food groups. The minimum acceptable diet was reached by 73.73% of breastfed children versus 92.85% for non-breastfed children. The analysis of factors associated with dietary diversity showed a correlation with the mothers’ education levels, the mothers’ occupation, the children’s gender, the number of daily meals and the consumption of some food groups. Conclusion. The food diversity indicators were generally satisfactory.