Dietary Diversity Among Pregnant Women in Gurage Zone, South Central Ethiopia: Assessment Based on Longitudinal Repeated Measurement

Figures & data

Table 1 Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in the Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age group (years)
18−24	292	43.7
25–34	334	50.0
35 and above	42	6.3
Residence
Urban	402	60.2
Rural	266	39.8
Ethnicity
Gurage	440	65.9
Amhara	109	16.5
Oromo	40	6.0
Silte	21	3.1
Others	58	8.5
Educational attainment
No formal education	188	28.1
Primary education	230	34.4
Secondary education	155	23.2
Tertiary education	95	14.2
Religion
Muslim	302	45.2
Orthodox	281	42.1
Protestant	63	9.4
Others	22	3.3
Occupation
Housewife	394	59.0
Merchant	81	12.1
Government employed	72	10.8
Farmer	75	11.2
Others	46	6.9
Marital status
Married	658	98.5
Not every married	10	1.5
Husbands’ occupation (n=658)
Farmer	192	28.7
Merchant	138	20.7
Government employed	121	18.3
Daily laborers	73	10.9
Others	133	20.2
Husband’s education (n=658)
No formal education	152	22.8
Primary education	216	32.3
Secondary education	150	22.5
Tertiary education	140	20.9
Family size
1–5	512	76.6
>5	156	23.4
Average monthly income (ETB)
1st quartile (150–2000)	207	31.0
2nd quartile (2001–4000)	163	24.4
3rd quartile (4001–6000)	158	23.7
4th quartile (6001–15,000)	140	21.0

Abbreviation: ETB, Ethiopian Birr (1 USD was equivalent to 32 birr at time of study).

Table 2 Nutritional Knowledge Assessment on Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2021

Knowledge Variable	Frequency (n)	Percent (%)
Components of balanced diet
Wrong	209	31.3
Incomplete	155	23.2
Complete	304	45.5
Advantage of balanced diet
Wrong	133	19.9
Incomplete	307	46.0
Complete	228	34.1
Appropriate nutritional practice during pregnancy
Wrong	145	21.7
Incomplete	332	49.7
Complete	191	28.6
Source of protein
Wrong	227	34.0
Incomplete	269	40.3
Complete	172	25.7
Source of vitamins
Wrong	261	39.1
Incomplete	271	40.6
Complete	136	20.4
Source of calcium
Wrong	385	57.6
Incomplete	205	30.7
Complete	78	11.7
Source of iron
Wrong	332	49.7
Incomplete	228	34.1
Complete	108	16.2
Advantage of iron nutrient
Wrong	222	33.2
Incomplete	271	40.6
Complete	175	26.2
Effect of under nutrition on women
Wrong	189	28.3
Incomplete	304	45.5
Complete	175	26.2
Effect of maternal under nutrition on the fetus
Wrong	235	35.2
Incomplete	299	44.8
Complete	134	20.1

Figure 1 The percentage of pregnant women consuming food items from different food groups in the three different time periods of gestational age in the Gurage zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2021. The length of bar indicates percentage of pregnant women consumed from different number of food groups in proceeding 24 hours and the color of bars indicate different rounds. The majority of women consumed only 3 groups of food out of ten category in all rounds; gestational age of 16 to 20 weeks, 28 to 29 weeks and 36 to 37 weeks. No women consumed above 7 out of ten groups in any round.

Table 3 Consumption of Different Food Groups in Different Weeks of Gestation Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2021

Food Groups Consumed	Frequency of Women Consumed from Each Group
	16–20 Weeks n (%)	28 to 29 Weeks n (%)	36 to 37 Weeks n (%)
Grains, white roots and tubers	665 (99.6%)	668 (100.0%)	668 (100.0%)
Pulses (beans, peas and lentils)	522 (78.1%)	552 (82.6)	556 (83.2%)
Nuts and seeds	174 (26.0%)	207 (31.0%)	214 (32.0%)
Meat, poultry and fish	91 (13.6%)	80 (12.0%)	98 (14.7%)
Eggs	101 (15.1%)	75 (11.2%)	75 (11.2%)
Dairy products	110 (16.5%)	104 (15.6%)	143 (21.4%)
Dark green leafy vegetables	39 (5.8%)	103 (15.4%)	118 (17.7%)
Vitamin-A rich vegetables	90 (13.5%)	146 (21.9%)	141 (21.1%)
Other vegetables	380 (56.9%)	249 (37.3%)	245 (36.7%)
Other fruits	95 (14.2%)	142 (21.3%)	131 (19.6%)

Table 4 Bi-Variable and Multi-Variable Logistic Regression of Factors Associated with Dietary Diversity Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Clinics in the Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia, 2021

Variables	Dietary Diversity		COR (95% CI)	AOR (95% CI)
	Optimal	Sub-Optimal
Residence
Urban	81	321	1	1
Rural	23	243	2.66 (1.63, 4.36)	1.91 (1.01, 3.62)^a
Level of education
No formal education	11	177	7.43 (3.52, 15.67)	5.51 (1.96, 15.53)^a
Primary school	27	203	3.47 (1.92, 6.26)	2.48 (0.98, 6.22)
Secondary school	36	119	1.53 (0.86, 2.70)	1.51 (0.67, 3.38)
College and above	30	65	1	1
Occupation
Housewife	50	344	1	1
Merchant	17	64	1.91 (0.89, 4.09)	0.56 (0.27, 1.17)
Government employed	15	57	1.04 (0.43, 2.52)	1.51 (0.82, 5.84)
Farmer	12	63	1.05 (0.43, 2.60)	1.13 (0.48, 2.64)
Others	10	36	1.45 (0.57, 3.71)	1.49 (0.56, 3.96)
Husbands occupation (n= 658)
Farmer	21	171	1	1
Merchant	27	111	0.50 (0.27, 0.93)	1.50 (0.61, 3.66)
Government employed	32	90	0.34 (0.18, 0.62)	2.40 (0.76, 7.60)
Daily labourers	10	63	0.76 (0.34, 1.70)	0.69 (0.26, 1.88)
Others	14	115	1.07 (0.53, 2.20)	3.51 (1.32, 9.32)
Husbands education (n=658)
No formal education	12	140	4.23 (2.18, 8.17)	4.31 (1.51, 12.33)^a
Primary school	22	182	3.52 (1.98, 6.24)	4.78 (1.83, 12.51)^a
Secondary school	27	135	2.07 (1.19, 3.59)	2.32 (1.03, 5.22)^a
College and above	41	99	1	1
Craving for food
Yes	30	128	0.72 (0.45, 1.15)	0.58 (0.33, 1.01)
No	74	436	1	1
Avoidance of certain food
Yes	13	136	2.22 (1.21, 4.10)	3.05 (1.49, 6.25)^a
No	91	428	1	1
Meal skip
Yes	9	179	4.91 (2.42, 9.94)	5.18 (2.41, 11.13)^a
No	95	385	1	1
Household food security
Food secure	75	323	1	1
Mild food insecure	20	111	1.29 (0.75, 2.21)	1.22 (0.65, 2.30)
Moderate and severe food insecure	9	130	3.35 (1.63, 6.89)	2.44 (1.07, 5.59)^a
Average Monthly income
1st quartile	23	184	2.56 (1.44, 4.58)	1.94 (1.40, 3.62)^a
2nd quartile	23	140	1.95 (1.08, 3.51)	1.45 (0.98, 2.01)
3rd quartile	24	134	1.79 (1.00, 3.20)	1.22 (0.61, 2.44)
4rth quartile	34	106	1	1
Nutritional education
Yes	71	321	0.51 (0.28, 0.82)	0.61 (0.39, 0.95)^a
No	33	243	1	1
Knowledge score			0.89 (0.86, 0.94)	0.92 (0.87, 0.98)^a

Note: Superscript “^a” in the last column indicates significant association.

Abbreviations: COR, crude odds ratio; AOR, adjusted odds ratio.