https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4680-3645
Abstract
Objective
The study aimed to assess nutritional practice and its associated factors among lactating mothers in Kombolcha Town, South Wollo Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2017.
Design and Setting
A community-based cross-sectional study design supplemented with qualitative research was conducted at Kombolcha Town from October 23 to November 10, 2017. A systematic sampling technique was used to select the study participants from listed households and purposive sampling was used for the qualitative inquiry.
Participants
A total of 425 lactating mothers were interviewed using a pre-tested structured questionnaire. The data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23. For the qualitative data, thematic content analysis was used. Multiple logistic regression was used to evaluate the association between nutritional practice with independent variables.
The Results
Lactating mothers who had good nutritional practice and knowledge were 28.7% (95% CI: 24.9%, 33.5%) and 52.0% (95% CI: 47.1%, 57.6%) respectively. This study revealed that government-employed mothers (AOR=6.0, 95% CI: 1.953, 18.485) and mothers with good nutritional knowledge (AOR=3.12, 95% CI: 1.832, 5.318) had statistically significant associations with nutritional practices of lactating mothers.
Conclusions and Recommendations
The nutritional practices and knowledge of lactating mothers were low in the study area. The mother’s occupation and nutritional knowledge were significantly associated with nutritional practice. Hence, the provision of maternal nutritional education regarding a healthy diet, and timely and regular dissemination of nutritional information were recommended.
Abbreviations
AOR, adjusted odds ratio; COR, crude odds ratio; EDHS, Ethiopia demographic and health survey; FAO, Food and Agriculture Organization; MCH, maternal and child health; NGO, non-governmental organization; PPS, population proportion size; SPSS, statistical package for social sciences; UNICEF, United Nations Children’s Fund; UNU, United Nation University; WHO, World Health Organization.
Ethical Standards Disclosure
Ethical clearance was obtained from the Ethical and Research Review Committee of the College of Medicine and Health Sciences of Wollo University, it was conducted following the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from the study subjects and confidentially of the information was also guaranteed.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank Wollo University, College of Medicine and Health Science, Department of Public Health for giving us a chance to study and conduct this thesis.
We would like to acknowledge Kombolcha Town Health Office, the Health Institutions for their cooperation. Our special appreciation goes to data collectors, study participants, and supervisors. We are grateful to all our teachers and friends who helped us a lot throughout this research work. We also extend our special thanks to Mr. Sisay Eshetie for his valuable support on manuscript revision and edition.
Author Contributions
DG: contributed to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript, give final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. EG: contributed to the design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, revising the manuscript, give final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. TC: contributed to the conception, design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, drafting the manuscript, give final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. WM: contributed to the design, data collection, analysis, interpretation of data, revising the manuscript, give final approval of the version to be published and agreed to be accountable for all aspects of the work. All authors contributed to data analysis, drafting and revising the article, gave final approval of the version to be published, and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Disclosure
The authors declared that they have no conflict of interest.