Background: Poor maternal nutrition adversely affects pregnancy and birth outcomes. In many societies, there are dietary restrictions due to misconceptions or food taboos during pregnancy which consequently results in the depletion of important nutrients. These cultural malpractices and beliefs can influence the dietary intake of pregnant women which subsequently affects the birth outcome. The study aimed at exploring the extent of food taboos and misconceptions during pregnancy in rural communities of Illu Aba Bor Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A qualitative study was conducted using an in-depth interviews of key informants and focus group discussions among purposively selected pregnant women and their husbands, health care workers, health extension workers, and elderly people. Data were transcribed verbatim, thematized; color-coded, and analyzed manually using the thematic framework method. Result: Thorough reading and review of the transcripts generated three major themes. The primary theme was the belief and practice of taboos related to the intake of certain food items during pregnancy. Pregnant women, their husbands, and mothers-in-law believed that certain foods should be avoided during pregnancy. The second theme was foods that were held as taboo and the reason attached to it. The most common food items held as taboo were related to the consumption of vegetables like cabbage, pumpkin, milk and milk products, sugar cane, fruits like bananas and avocado and egg. The main reasons to avoid these foods were beliefs that it can be plastered on the fetal head, making fatty baby which is difficult for delivery. The third theme was the reasons underlying adherence to food taboos which is deeply embedded in the person’s believes and attitudes of the pregnant women, who were nested within the influence of the social environment surrounding them and the traditional beliefs and values of the society in general. Conclusions: The results showed a widespread practice of food taboos during pregnancy in the study area. The finding suggested that there is a need for strengthening the nutrition counseling components of antenatal care follow-up and planning comprehensive nutrition education through involving important others to dispel such traditional beliefs and prevent food taboo practices in the study community.

Background: Maternal under-nutrition due to macro and micronutrient deficiencies is a challenging public health problem worldwide, disproportionately affecting women in low-income nations. Hence, this study aimed at assessing factors associated with dietary practice and nutritional status of pregnant women in Illu Aba Bor Zone, Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 403 randomly selected pregnant women, from May to June, 2019. Socio-demographic and socio-economic data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Dietary Diversity was obtained using a qualitative 24-hr dietary recall method and nutritional status was assessed using mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) measurements. Data were entered onto Epidata version 3.5.3 and exported to SPSS version 20 for analysis. Binary and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to identify independent predictors of nutritional status and dietary practice. Odds ratio with 95% Confidence interval was estimated to identify the predictors of the outcome variables. Statistical significance was affirmed at a p-value ≤ 0.05. Results: The prevalence of under-nutrition among the pregnant women was 17.4% and the mean (±SD) dietary diversity score was 4.88 ± 1.27. Family-size (AOR=3, 95% CI: (1.18, 7.21)), wealth status (AOR=3.65 (1.02, 12.99)), household food security (AOR=2.59 (1.21, 5.63)) and birth interval (AOR=2.3 (1.10, 4.87)) were significantly associated with nutritional status of pregnant women. Educational status (AOR = 3.49, 95% (1.53, 7.99)), household food security (AOR = 1.61, 95% (1.02, 2.56)), nutrition knowledge (AOR = 1.74, 95% (1.08, 2.79)), and meal frequency (AOR = 2.88, 95% (1.65, 5.03)) were significantly associated with dietary practice of the respondents. Conclusion: Finding of the study revealed that the prevalence of under-nutrition and poor dietary practice was high which were significantly associated with educational and economic status. Hence, it is imperative to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women, strengthening sustainable income-generating activities and saving strategies.

Introduction. Orphans are the special group of children who are generally deprived and prone to develop psychiatric disorders even those reared in well-run institutions. These children and adolescents living as orphans or in stigmatized environments are vulnerable because of the loss of parent figures. The HIV/AIDS epidemic has contributed to a drastic increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children and other causes in sub-Saharan Africa. However, little is known about the prevalence of depression and associated factors among orphanage children in areas such as Ethiopia. Objective. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among orphans in Ilu Abba Bor Zone orphanages, 2016. Methods. An institutional based cross-sectional study was conducted among orphan children in orphanages at Mettu and Gore. A total of 220 orphans were included from the two orphanages and make the response rate of 98.2%. Pretested semistructured questionnaire was used for interviewing the study participants. The collected data were coded, entered into EPI-INFO 7.0. Software, and exported to SPSS version 20 for statistical analysis. The strength of association between variables was assessed using crude and Adjusted Odds Ratio by running logistic regression and the cut-off point for declaring statistical significance was P- value <0.05 or 95% confidence interval which does not contain the null value. Results. A total of 216 orphan children were interviewed with response rate of 98.2%. The overall prevalence of depression was 24.1%. The mean age of participants was 14.2 years ± 9.90 SDs and range from 11 to 17 years. Sex [Adjusted Odds Ratio = 3.29, 95% CI (1.41, 7.46)]; age [Adjusted Odds Ratio=2.09,95% CI (3.7; 5.01)]; duration of stay in foster care [Adjusted Odds Ratio= 2.08 (1.01; 8.33)]; previous physical abuse [Adjusted Odds Ratio= 3.1 (2.1; 5.06)]; having medical illness [Adjusted Odds Ratio=1.94,95% CI (2.01;3.56)]; orphan status [Adjusted Odds Ratio=2.5,95% CI (1.62; 3.56)]; and suicidal tendency [Adjusted Odds Ratio= 4.8 (3.41; 9.03)] were independent predictors of depression among orphans in orphanages. Conclusion and Recommendations. Prevalence of depression was high among orphans and this finding suggests that screening for depression and mental and psychological care should be integrated into routine health care provided to orphans and that there is a further need to establish preventive measures against depression.

Introduction: Diabetes related distress is the most common psychological co-morbid condition among type 2 diabetes patients. However, although the number of people living with diabetes has continued to increase over the last 10 years, information regarding diabetes related distress is limited in Ethiopia. Objective: The present study aimed to assess the prevalence of diabetes related distress and associated factors among type 2 diabetes patients attending hospitals in Southwest Ethiopia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was employed on 360 type 2 diabetes patients attending hospitals from January 1 to March 30, 2020. Convenient sampling technique was used to select study participants. Data were entered into EpiData manager version 4.2.2 and exported to Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions. The statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Out of a total 360 patients recruited, 321 (89.2%) patients (201 male and 120 female) were involved in the study. The mean age of the participants was 41.3 (SD = 12.8) years. The prevalence of diabetes related distress was 118 (36.8%) in which emotional distress was the most prevalent (43.6%) domain. Level of education [AOR 4.55; 95% CI: 1.28– 16.19], family or social support [AOR 0.62; 95% CI: 0.33– 1.06], duration of diabetes [AOR 0.75; 95% CI: 0.35– 1.55], having diabetes complications [AOR 1.98; 95% CI: 1.0– 3.86], smoking status [AOR 1.6; 95% CI: 1.12– 2.97] and alcohol consumption status [AOR 1.4; 95% CI: 1.07– 2.53] were the identified factors of diabetes related distress. Conclusion: Diabetes related distress was highly prevalent in type 2 diabetes patients. Healthcare providers need to address this through integrating psychosocial care with collaborative medical care.

Optimal birth spacing refers to resting period between pregnancies that allows the mother time to recuperate from pregnancy, labor and lactation. Long time period between births allows the next pregnancy and birth to be at full gestation and growth for years. This study aimed to assess practice of child spacing and its associated factors among women of child bearing age in Ilubabor Zone of Oromia National Regional State, South West Ethiopia, from January to June 2016. A community based cross sectional quantitative study design was used. A stratified multistage sampling procedure and face to face interview with Afan Oromo and Amharic version was done by administering questionnaire on 826 women of child bearing age. Women from rural areas were about 3 times more likely to have short birth interval than their urban counterparts [AOR =3.39 (95% CI: 1.13, 4.10)]. Respondents with no formal education were 2.56 times more likely to practice short birth interval than those with higher education [AOR = 2.56, 95% CI (1.60, 3.42)]. As compared to mothers whose husbands were employee, women whose husbands were farmers were more likely to have short birth interval [AOR = 3.50, 95% CI (1.29, 4.42)]. Mothers who breast fed their child for less than 12 months were 5 times more likely to practice short birth interval than those who breast fed for 24 months or more [AOR = 5.36, 95% CI ((3.43,6.34)]. Women who were not using contraceptives were 4.42 times more likely to give birth within short period of time than contraceptive users [AOR = 4.12 (95% CI: 2.71, 5.82)]. Women with fourth wealth quartile were 3.18 times more likely to have short birth interval than those with the lowest wealth quartile [AOR = 3.18(95% CI: 1.75, 4.56)]. Birth interval was short in this study. Therefore, greater attention should be given to contraceptive use and paternal education in addition to infant and child mortality prevention. Key words: Birth spacing, knowledge, contraceptive, women.

Maternal undernutrition is a major public health problem that disproportionately affects women in low‐income countries. Despite attempts to address maternal nutritional needs, Ethiopia still has a high rate of undernutrition. Hence, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of theory‐based nutrition education through male engagement on dietary practice and the nutritional status of pregnant women. A pretest−posttest quasi‐experimental study was conducted among 403 pregnant women selected from 22 kebeles of Illu Aba Bor zone, Southwest Ethiopia from July to December 2019. A pre‐tested, structured interviewer‐administered questionnaire was used for data collection. A qualitative 24‐h dietary recall was used to assess dietary diversity, and the Mid‐Upper Arm Circumference was used to assess nutritional status. The intervention effect was evaluated using difference‐in‐difference, generalized estimating equation, and linear mixed‐effects models. The mean dietary diversity score differed significantly between the couple group, women‐alone and the control group (p < 0.001). According to the multivariable generalized estimating equations model, couples were 3.9 times; adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.91, 95% CI: (2.57, 6.88) and women alone were 2.8 times; AOR = 2.86, 95% CI: (2.17, 3.88) more likely to consume a diverse diet than the control group. The nutritional status of the women in the couple group improved significantly by the end of the intervention (p < 0.001). This study showed that involving males in nutrition education intervention was effective in improving the dietary diversity practice and nutritional status of pregnant women. The findings imply the need for targeting couples in designing nutrition education interventions.