The aim of this study was to assess diabetes self-care practice and associated factors among diabetes patients attending Felege-Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Northwest Ethiopia. Prevalence of desirable self-care behaviors toward Diabetes Mellitus was 28.4% (95% CI 24.0–32.7%). There were significant association between the combined treatment modality of tablet with insulin (AOR: 2.72; 95% CI 1.01, 7.40), primary and secondary education level (AOR: 4.82; 95% CI 1.88, 12.35 and AOR: 3.08; 95% CI 1.26, 7.53, respectively). A considerable number of the patients had poor self-care practice, especially lack of social support and treatment modality, which have critical roles in controlling diabetes. Therefore, attention should be given to improve self-care practice.

Khat is a well-known natural stimulant and is widely used in Ethiopia, particularly in Bahir Dar city. Khat chewing is linked with risky sexual behaviors. The study was aimed to determine the prevalence of chewing khat and its relation with risky sexual behaviors among residents of Bahir Dar City administration, Northwest Ethiopia. A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from January to February, 2016. The data were collected using an interviewer administered structured questionnaire. Logistic regression analysis was applied to assess association between dependent and explanatory variables. The proportion of lifetime and current chewing khat among the study participants were 25.7 and 19.5%, respectively. Males (AOR 5.0; 95% CI 3.0–8.2) than females, merchants (AOR 4.9; 95% CI 2.6–9.3) than government employees, and those with average monthly income of ≥ 3001 Ethiopian birr (AOR 2.4; 95% CI 1.2–4.8) than ≤ 1000 had an increased current chewing khat prevalence. Having lifetime history of chewing khat was significantly associated with ever had sexual intercourse, having extra sexual partners, watching pornographic film and self-reported sexually transmitted infections. Chewing khat is associated with increment of having risky sexual behaviors and self-reported sexually transmitted infections. Harm reduction measures are needed to prevent the community from engaging in khat use and risky sexual behaviors.

Objective The aim of this study is to assess change in stunting and its associated factors among children aged less than 5 years in Ethiopia using Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data from 2005 to 2019. Design A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted. Setting The study was conducted in Ethiopia. Participants In 2005, 4586 individuals were examined, followed by 10 282 in 2011, 9462 in 2016 and 4937 in 2019. Primary and secondary outcomes The primary outcome of the study was stunting, and the secondary outcome was factors associated with stunting and its change. A multilevel logistic regression model was fitted to identify individual and community-level factors associated with stunting among children aged less than 5 years. Multivariate decomposition analysis was also carried out to assess the role of compositional characteristics and behavioural change for decline in stunting among children aged less than 5 years in Ethiopia. Results Over the study period, the prevalence rate of stunting in children aged less than 5 years decreased from 47% to 37% in 2019. Differences in behavioural change among children under the age of 5 years account for 76.69% of the overall decline in stunting prevalence rate in the years 2005–2011, 86.53% in the years 2005–2016, 98.9% in the years 2005–2019, 70.34% in the years 2011–2016 and 73.77% in the years 2011–2019. Behavioural adjustments among breastfed children, diet diversity, place of delivery, ANC follow-up and region have all had a major effect on stunting prevalence rate. The wealth index, parenteral education, child’s age in months, length of breast feeding and area were among the compositional change factors. Conclusion A large percentage of children aged less than 5 years remains stunted in Ethiopia. Stunting was associated with alterations in the compositional and behavioural characteristics of children. Stimulating existing nutritional measures and improving the wealth index will make a significant difference in reducing stunting among Ethiopian children aged less than 5 years.

Difficulty in adhering to the recommended diet is a common problem in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM). Dietary non-adherence among diabetic individuals leads to diabetes related complication and death. As far as our search established, there is a scarcity of scientific evidence of dietary non-adherence of individuals with diabetes to the recommended diet in Ethiopia, specifically in the Northwest part of the country. Hence, this study aims to assess the dietary non-adherence and associated factors among individuals with diabetes at Felege-Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia. An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 385 systematically selected individuals with diabetes following their treatment from March to April 2017. Quantitative data were collected using a pre-tested and structured questionnaire. The dependent variable association with explanatory variables was determined using logistic regression. Statistical significance was considered at p-value <0.05 with 95% CI. The overall proportion of dietary non-adherence among participants was 46.8% (95% CI: 41.1–52.0). Living rurally (AOR = 3. 75; 95% CI: 2.12–6.63), duration of diabetes less than 5 years (AOR = 2. 81; 95% CI: 1.22–6.50), did not receive nutritional education (AOR = 5. 88; 95% CI: 3.30–10.48), poor social support (AOR = 3. 84; 95% CI: 1.74–8.46) and did not make choices when eating out (AOR = 3. 49; 95% CI: 2.09–5.81) were significantly associated with dietary non-adherence. Nearly half of the individuals with diabetes involved in this study did not adhere to the recommended diet. This problem could be addressed through the provision of nutritional education and strengthening social support to adhere to diabetes dietary recommendations. Therefore, health professional and nutritional educators should take appropriate action to increase the proportion of dietary adherence of individuals with diabetes.

Malnutrition is a critical public health issue that has been related to a significant increase in mortality and morbidity rates. Despite the fact that children are expected to benefit from home gardening products, their nutritional condition in Ethiopia, particularly in the planned study region, is not thoroughly monitored. Therefore the purpose of this is to determine the nutritional status of 6–59 months of age children between households with and without home gardening practices at Zege. A community based comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among paired mothers with 6–59 month children from February to March 2020. Data were collected using questionnaire and anthropometric measurement tools. Binary logistic regression models were used. A-p-value < 0.05 was used as cutoff point to declare statistically significant variables with the outcome variable. Stunting and wasting among children aged 6–59 months was high and did not show significant variation between households practicing home gardening (stunting 46.1%, at 95%, CI: 40.6–51.3 and wasting 9.1%, at 95% CI: 6.2–12.7) and not practiced home gardening (stunting 50.3%, at 95% CI: 44.5–55.8 and wasting 10.1%, 95% CI: 6.8–13.8). Having low dietary diversity (AOR = 2.7; 95% CI: 1.9–3.9), Being male (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.4–3), feeding frequency < 3/day (AOR = 1.7; 95% CI: 1.1–2.4), and presence of diarrhea (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.4–4.6) were predictors of stunting. Unprotected-drinking water (AOR = 2.1; 95% CI: 1.0–4.2), not fully-immunized (AOR = 2.6; 95% CI: 1.3–5.1) and being female (AOR = 2.4; 95% CI: 1.3–4.6) were predictors for child wasting. stunting and wasting are highly prevalent in both home gardening and non- home gardening households’ children of the community. Promoting diversified diet, protected water source, vaccinating children, access to a healthy environment and integrated with the access of nutrition education programs are vital interventions to improve nutrition.

Improper breastfeeding practices significantly impair the health, development, and survival of infants, children, and mothers. A Breastfeeding Performance Index (BPI) is a composite index to describe overall maternal breastfeeding practice with infants under six months of age. To date, there is insufficient evidence on breastfeeding performance index and its associated factors in Ethiopia. To assess the breastfeeding performance index and its associated factors in Sekela District, Northwest Ethiopia, 2019. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 605 randomly selected mothers having infants aged 6 to 12 months from April 02, 2019 to May 13, 2019. Data was collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire. Multivariable logistic regressions were used to identify independent predictors of BPI. Two hundred forty-six (40.7%) of mothers had low BPI scores. Mothers who lived alone (AOR = 3.18; 95%CI: 1.15, 8.82), mothers who were merchants (AOR = 2.75; 95%CI:1.05, 7.15), attended three antenatal care (ANC) visits (AOR = 0.42; 95% CI: 0.20, 0.82), attended four antenatal care visits (AOR = 0.35; 95%CI: 0.12, 0.82), received postnatal care (PNC) (AOR = 0.35; 95%CI: 0.19, 0.64), had poor knowledge on breastfeeding (AOR = 3.19;95%CI: 1.14, 8.89) or negative attitudes towards breastfeeding (AOR = 2.70;95%CI: 1.13, 6.45), were independent predictors of low BPI scores. The prevalence of sub-optimal breastfeeding practice in northwest Ethiopia was very high. A mother living alone, maternal occupation, ANC visits, PNC, maternal breastfeeding knowledge, and attitude towards breastfeeding were independent predictors of low BPI scores. Nutrition promotion should be implemented by considering the above significant factors to decrease inappropriate breastfeeding practice in Northwest Ethiopia.