Micronutrient intake inadequacies in Northwest Ethiopian children aged 6–23 months

The early stages of childhood are a crucial period of life for health, with inadequate nutrition impactingphysical growth, cognitive development, and the immune system. A considerable proportion ofchildren are affected by micronutrient intake inadequacy and deficiency across the globe. Evidenceon micronutrient intake among children aged 6–23 months is limited in Northwest Ethiopia, wherethere is a divergence between production and dietary consumption practices compared to otherregions of the country. This study aimed to determine micronutrient inadequacy and associatedfactors among children aged 6–23 months. From February 1 to February 18, 2023, 435 children aged6–23 months participated in a community-based cross-sectional study in the North Mecha Districtof the Amhara Region, Northwest Ethiopia. The study participants were selected using a multistagesampling technique. A multiphasic interactive 24-h dietary recall was used to collect dietary intakedata via an interviewer-administered questionnaire. The interviews were conducted with the mothersof the selected children. Nutrient values for the selected 12 micronutrients were calculated using theNutriSurvey 2007 software and food composition tables from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Kenya. SPSSversion 25 was used for the remaining parts of the analysis. The Nutrient Adequacy Ratio and MeanAdequacy Ratio were calculated to evaluate the nutrient intakes. To identify the factors associatedwith overall micronutrient intake inadequacy, a binary logistic regression analysis was performed,with statistical significance determined at a p-value < 0.05. The overall prevalence of micronutrientintake inadequacy was 64.7% (95% CI 59.9, 69.2). The odds of inadequacy of micronutrient intakewere 2.8 times higher among children aged 6–8 months than children aged 9–23 months (AOR = 2.80,95% CI 1.71, 4.59). Children with paternal education unable to read and write and primary schoolincomplete were 3.1 (AOR = 3.12, 95% CI 1.26, 7.70) and 2.4 (AOR = 2.40, 95% CI 1.01, 5.73) timesmore likely to have micronutrient intake inadequacy, respectively, compared to children with paternaleducation of primary school completed and above. The likelihood of micronutrient intake inadequacywas 1.8 times higher among children from mothers who had an unfavorable nutrition-related attitudethan those from mothers who had a favorable attitude (AOR = 1.76, 95% CI 1.02, 3.05). Inadequateintake of micronutrients was shown to be highly prevalent among children aged 6–23 months. Childage, paternal education, and maternal nutrition-related attitude were significantly associated withmicronutrient intake inadequacy. Integrating community-guided nutrition interventions targetingnutrition-related knowledge and attitudes of parents is critical in addressing the inadequatemicronutrient intake of children in the study community, where production is not a major problem.