Introduction: Inadequate physical growth and poor development of children are prevalent and significant problems worldwide, with 149 million children younger than 5 years stunted and 49 million wasted. Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) is one of the major activities implemented with the aim of capturing growth faltering before the child reaches the status of undernutrition. In relation to this, the Amhara region, where the study area is found, is a highly burdened area for child malnutrition. Thus, it needs further investigation about the utilization of GMP services and associated factors among children younger than 2 years in the study area.Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the utilization of growth monitoring and promotion services and associated factors among children younger than 2 years.Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in the West Armachiho district, including 703 mother–child pairs, with a response rate of 94.7%. A simple random sampling technique was used to select the respondents. Both bivariable and multivariable logistic regression analyzes were performed. An adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval was used to measure the strength of the association.Results: The proportion of utilization of growth monitoring and promotion services in the West Armachiho district was 13.7% (95%Cl; 11.2, 16.4). Factors such as maternal educational status (AOR = 2.17, 95%Cl; 1.05, 4.49), institutional delivery (AOR = 3.16, 95%Cl; 1.62, 6.13), family size (AOR = 2.66, 95%Cl; 1.13, 6.23), access to health facility (AOR = 3.17, 95%Cl; 1.45, 6.95), and maternal knowledge (AOR = 4.53, 95%Cl; 2.71, 7.59) were significantly associated with the utilization of growth monitoring and promotion services.Conclusion: Utilization of growth monitoring and promotion services in children younger than 2 years in the West Armachiho district was low. Thus, giving due attention to the improvement of the knowledge of the mothers/caregivers about child GMP services and counseling them about the importance of facility delivery is vital to improving growth monitoring and promotion services in the area.

Background: Currently, iodine deficiency has become a significant burden globally; where 2 billion people and 29.8% of school-age children are iodine deficient. It is a leading cause of preventable brain damage among children, resulting in impaired cognitive and motor development. Even though salt iodization was started to be implemented to alleviate this burden in Ethiopia, primary studies assessing iodine deficiency in the country show highly variable findings, and no systematic review was conducted to determine the pooled prevalence of the problem which makes it difficult to assess the effect of the intervention as well as to design appropriate and timely measures. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the pooled prevalence of iodine deficiency and the common factors affecting its occurrence among school-age children in Ethiopia. Method: To obtain the eligible studies, databases (EMBASE, Scopus, Hinari, and PubMed), websites (Google and Google Scholar), and references of the eligible studies were searched systematically. Data were extracted using an Excel spreadsheet and analyzed using the STATA 17 version. The I² test was used to assess heterogeneity between the studies. A DerSimonian and Laird random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence and pooled odds ratio. A funnel plot and Egger’s test were used to detect publication bias. Result: A total of 15 eligible studies, representing 15,611 school-age children, were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The pooled prevalence of iodine deficiency among school-age children in Ethiopia was found to be 58% (95%CI 44.00–77.00), while the highest prevalence was recorded in the Oromia Region, which was 64% (95% CI 49–79). Goitrogenic food consumption (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 2.93, 95% CI 1.60–5.35) and being female (adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.87, 95% CI 1.43–2.44) showed a significant association with the prevalence of iodine deficiency. Conclusion: Iodine deficiency among school-age children in Ethiopia was noticeably high. Goitrogenic food consumption and the sex of the child were determinant factors for the occurrence of iodine deficiency among the children. Therefore, appropriate advice should be given to households to limit goitrogenic foods in the diet of their children by giving due attention to their female children.

Objective This study aimed to assess the pooled prevalence and factors of low birth weight among newborns in the top 20 countries with the highest infant mortality rates. Design We conducted a community-based cross-sectional analysis using data from Demography and Health Surveys across these countries. The final analysis included a weighted sample of 82 430 live births. We employed binary logistic regression to identify predictors of low birth weight, allowing for the interpretation of results as probabilities. This approach enhances the understanding of event likelihood, which is particularly valuable for policymakers. Statistical significance was determined at a 95% CI with p values <0.05. Setting The focus was on the top 20 countries that report the highest infant mortality. Outcome variable Low birth weight (binary: Yes/No). Result The pooled prevalence of low birth weight among newborns was found to be 13% (95% CI: 11% to 14%), showing notable variation across countries, ranging from 5% in Sierra Leone to 25% in Mauritania. Statistically significant factors included maternal age of 15–19 years (adjusted OR (AOR): 1.38; 95% CI: 1.19 to 1.61), lack of formal education among mothers (AOR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.26 to 1.46), unemployed mothers (AOR: 1.54; 95% CI: 1.46 to 1.63), divorced mothers (AOR: 1.20; 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.36), absence of antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.10 to 1.39) and one to three ANC visits (AOR: 1.30; 95% CI: 1.22 to 1.38). Other significant factors included a parity of one to two children (AOR: 1.29; 95% CI: 1.21 to 1.39), twin births (AOR: 6.40; 95% CI: 5.68 to 7.26), and female newborns (AOR: 1.21; 95% CI: 1.15 to 1.28). Conclusion and recommendation The findings indicate that more than 1 out of 10 newborns in these highest infant mortality countries are classified as low birth weight. To mitigate this issue, it is imperative to enhance access to quality healthcare with particular emphasis on ANC and to promote maternal education, especially for younger and less-educated mothers. Increasing the presence of skilled birth attendants and addressing socioeconomic factors, such as women’s unemployment, is crucial. Targeted interventions should support divorced women and address risks associated with maternal age, terminated pregnancies and twin births. Additionally, country-specific strategies that focus on female infants can play a significant role in reducing the prevalence of low birth weight and improving neonatal health outcomes.

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BackgroundEven though fragmented and inconsistent findings have been reported in Ethiopia, adolescence is a period of rapid growth following infancy and is severely affected by micronutrient deficiencies, food insecurity, and poor-quality diets. Therefore, the aim of this meta-analysis was to estimate the pooled prevalence of dietary diversity and its associated factors among adolescent girls in Ethiopia.MethodsInternational databases such as EMBASE, Hinari, Scopus, PubMed, Google Scholar, and direct Google searches were systematically used to search for articles and reports. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, modified as appropriate, was used for cross-sectional studies to assess the quality of the included articles and reports. A Microsoft Excel sheet was used for data extraction and then exported into STATA version 17 for further analysis. The pooled prevalence of dietary diversity was estimated using a random effects meta-analysis approach. Egger's and Begg's tests were employed to evaluate publication bias.ResultsThe pooled prevalence of minimum dietary diversity among adolescent girls in Ethiopia was 43% (95% CI: 30, 56) with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 99.2%, p = 0.00). Urban residence (OR: 2.46), mother being a government employee (OR: 2.31), attending a private school (OR: 6.24), adolescent having formal maternal education (OR: 4.49), adolescent having formal paternal education (OR: 3.26), father being a government employee (OR: 3.50), father being a merchant employee (OR: 2.51), middle family wealth index (OR: 1.76), household food security (OR: 3.96), receiving nutrition counseling (OR: 2.46), and higher meal frequency (OR: 7.35) were significantly associated with minimum dietary diversity.ConclusionThe pooled prevalence of dietary diversity among adolescent girls was low. Factors significantly associated with achieving minimum dietary diversity included urban residence, higher parental education and employment in government, private school attendance, household wealth, food security, receiving nutrition counseling, and higher meal frequency. These findings emphasize the need to improve dietary diversity among rural adolescent girls and food insecure households. Establishing nutrition counseling services could enhance understanding and skills related to a varied diet.

Child malnutrition is a significant global burden, leaving millions of children malnourished. To mitigate this huge burden, child dietary diversity is used as one of the major interventions applied in the first two years of life. The adequate child dietary diversity in Ethiopia is only 8%, and the socioeconomic inequalities contributing to this low proportion are not well discovered. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the socioeconomic inequality in dietary diversity practice among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia. Secondary data obtained from the recent Ethiopian Mini Demographic Health Survey 2019 dataset was used. A total of 1610 weighted samples of children aged 6–23 months were included in the study. A two-stage stratified sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. STATA version 17.0 was used for coding and analysis. Erreygers normalized concentration index and concentration curve were used to assess the socioeconomic inequality in the dietary diversity practice of the children. Decomposition analysis was applied to identify factors contributing to socio-economic inequality. A P-value < 0.05 was used to declare the statistical significance of the factors. The Erreygers normalized concentration index was found to be 0.1005 with a standard error of 0.033 and a statistically significant p-value (p-value = 0.0026) and the concentration curve lay below the line of equality, showing that adequate dietary diversity practice is disproportionately concentrated among children from households with high socioeconomic status. The decomposition analysis showed that household wealth status (72.8%), educational status of the mother (20.6%), postnatal care (2.2%) were the statistically significant contributors to the pro-rich socioeconomic inequality of dietary diversity practice among the children. This study showed that there is a pro-rich socioeconomic inequality in dietary diversity practice among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia. Household wealth status, educational status of the mother, and postnatal care were identified as contributors to the occurrence of the inequality. Therefore, encouraging mothers to attend school and engaging households in income-generating activities is crucial to narrowing the inequality.