Suboptimal complementary feeding practice and its related factors among caregivers of children 6-23 months in Western Ethiopia.

Background: Suboptimal complementary feeding practice during the first 2 years of life are key determinants of malnutrition in children and have a negative impact on a child's growth, health, and development.

Objective: To assess the prevalence of suboptimal complementary feeding practice and associated factors among caregivers of children 6-23 months in Dambi Dollo town.

Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted at Dambi Dollo Town from 9 August to 11 October 2023, among 284 caregivers of children aged 6-23 months. Binary logistic regression was used to measure the strength of association between dependent and independent variables using adjusted odds ratio (AOR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). A p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Results: The prevalence of suboptimal complementary feeding among caregivers of children 6-23 months was 65.8%. Findings of multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that lack of formal education (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 4.93, 95% CI = (2.35, 10.34)), lack of attending antenatal care (AOR = 2.47, 95% CI = (1.20, 5.08)), and medium knowledge of child feeding practice (AOR = 0.21, 95% CI = (0.09, 0.47)) were significantly associated with suboptimal complementary feeding practice.

Conclusion: This study showed that two-thirds of children were poorly provided complementary food which significantly associated with lack of attending antenatal care, lack of formal education, and medium knowledge on infant and young child feeding practice. These results highlight the need for targeted interventions, including strengthening antenatal care services, promoting maternal education, and enhancing community-based nutrition education programs to improve complementary feeding practices and ultimately support better child health and development outcomes.