The hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding are crucial in the protection of vulnerable infants and children aged 6–24 months from childhood communicable diseases such as diarrhea and malnutrition. However, sufficient evidence on the hygienic practices of mothers during complementary food feeding and their associated factors is limited. Thus, this study is aimed at assessing the levels of complementary feeding hygiene practice and its associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 17 March to 17 April 2021, among 576 mothers with children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie District, Northwest Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a pretested structured questionnaire, then entered into Epi Data version 4.6 and exported to SPSS version 23 for analysis. Bivariable and multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify factors associated with outcome variables, and variables with p-values of <0.05 in the final models were considered statistically significant. Result: The prevalence of hygienic practice during complementary food feeding of their children aged 6–24 months was 33.6%, with 95% (CI 29.7% to 37.6%) of them having good practice. Living in an urban area (AOR = 7.02, 95% CI: (4.14, 11.88)), the presence of a handwashing facility near the latrine (AOR = 3.02, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.70)), the presence of a separate area to store raw and cooked foods (AOR = 5.87, 95% CI: (2.84, 12.13)), and the presence of a three-compartment dish washing system (AOR = 5.70, 95%,CI: (3.41, 9.54)) were predictors of practicing good hygienic complementary food feeding. The prevalence of good hygienic practices during complementary feeding among mothers was low. The district health office and health extension workers should work to improve maternal hygienic practices during complementary feeding.

IntroductionHygienic practice of mothers during complementary feeding is crucial in the protection of vulnerable infants and children aged 6–24 months from childhood communicable diseases like diarrheal and malnutrition. However, sufficient evidence on hygienic practice of mothers during complementary feeding and its associated factors is limited.ObjectiveTo determine the levels of complementary feeding hygiene practice and its associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in Tegedie district, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 17 to April 17, 2021, among 576 mothers with children aged 6-24 months in Tegedie district northwest Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire and it entered into Epi-data version 4.6, and exported to SPSS version 20.0 for data cleaning and further analysis. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regressions analysis were employed to identify predictors of complementary feeding hygiene practice with p-value < 0.25 enter into the multivariable logistic regression model. Then variables with p-value ≤ 0.05 in multivariable logistic regressions were considered as statistically significance.ResultsThe prevalence of hygienic practice during complementary feeding of their children aged 6-24 months was, 33.6% with 95% CI: (29.7%, 37.6%) of them had good practice. Living in urban areas [AOR= 7.02, 95% CI: (4.14, 11.88)], presence of hand washing facility near the latrine [AOR= 3.02, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.70)], presence of separate area to store raw and cooked foods [AOR= 5.87, 95% CI: (2.84, 12.13)] and presence of three-compartment dishwashing system [AOR= 5.70, 95% CI: (3.41, 9.54)] were significant predictors of hygienic complementary feeding practice.Conclusion and recommendationThe prevalence of good hygienic practice during complementary feeding among mothers was still low; the district health office and health extension workers should work to improve the maternal hygienic practices during complementary feeding practice.

IntroductionThe hygienic practices of mothers during complementary feeding are crucial in the protection of vulnerable infants and children aged 6–24 months from childhood communicable diseases like diarrhea and malnutrition. However, sufficient evidence on the hygienic practices of mothers during complementary feeding and their associated factors is limited.ObjectiveTo determine the levels of complementary feeding hygiene practice and its associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie district, northwest Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from March 17 to April 17, 2021, among 576 mothers with children aged 6–24 months in the Tegedie district, northwest Ethiopia. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the study participants. Data were collected using a structured questionnaire administered by an interviewer and entered into Epi-data version 4.6 before being exported to SPSS version 20.0 for data cleaning and further analysis. Bivariate and multivariable binary logistic regression analyses were employed to identify predictors of complementary feeding hygiene practice with p-value < 0.25 that entered into the multivariable logistic regression model. Then variables with a p-value of 0.05 in multivariable logistic regressions were considered statistically significant.ResultsThe prevalence of hygienic practice during complementary feeding of their children aged 6–24 months was 33.6%, with 95% CI 29.7–37.6%) of them had good practice. Living in an urban area [AOR=7.02, 95% CI: (4.14, 11.88)], the presence of a handwashing facility near the latrine [AOR = 3.02, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.70)], the presence of a separate area to store raw and cooked foods [AOR = 5.87, 95% CI: (2.84, 12.13)], and the presence of a three-compartment dish washing system [AOR = 5.70,Conclusion and recommendationThe prevalence of good hygienic practices during complementary feeding among mothers is still low; the district health office and health extension workers should work to improve maternal hygienic practices during complementary feeding.