Zero Fruit and Vegetables Consumption and Associated Factors Among Children Aged 6–23 Months Old in Eastern Africa

Figures & data

Table 1 Basic Characteristics of Children Aged 6–23 Months Old in East Africa

Variables	Weighted Frequency	Percentage (%)
Sex of child
Male	12,007	50.56
Female	11,742	49.44
Place of residence
Urban	5896	24.83
Rural	17,853	75.17
Sex of household head
Male	18,221	76.72
Female	5528	23.28
Wealth index
Poorest	6414	27.42
Poorer	4937	21.11
Middle	4315	18.45
Richer	3909	16.71
Richest	3815	16.31
Mother’s highest educational status
No formal education	5727	24.48
Primary	11,095	47.43
Secondary	5701	24.37
Higher	867	3.71
Number of under 5 children in the household
No under 5 children	238	1.02
1 or 2 under 5 children	18,683	79.88
>2 under 5 children	4469	19.11
Husband’s educational status
No formal education	3943	19.30
Primary	8944	43.77
Secondary	6080	29.76
Higher	1466	7.17
Media exposure
Yes	9788	41.87
No	13,588	58.13
Attended ANC
Yes	1853	8.27
No	20,559	91.73
Place of delivery
Home	7157	30.6
Health facility	16,230	69.40
Country
Burundi	1971	8.30
Congo Democratic Republic	2647	11.15
Ethiopia	2949	12.42
Kenya	2896	12.19
Comoros	719	3.03
Madagascar	1875	7.90
Malawi	1567	6.60
Rwanda	1206	5.08
Tanzania	2517	10.60
Uganda	1460	6.15
Zambia	2829	11.91
Zimbabwe	1113	4.69

Table 2 Fruit and Vegetable Consumption Related Characteristics of Children Aged 6–23 Months Old in East Africa

Variables	Weighted Frequency	Percentage (%)
Consumed zero fruit and vegetables
Yes	7651	32.26
No	16,063	67.74
Consumed potatoes, cassava, or other tubers
Yes	6276	26.47
No	17,438	73.53
Consumed pumpkin, carrots, squash (yellow or orange inside)
Yes	3368	14.20
No	20,346	85.80
Consumed any dark green leafy vegetables
Yes	11,294	47.63
No	12,420	52.37
Consumed mangoes, papayas, and other vitamins and fruits
Yes	5079	21.42
No	18,635	78.58
Consumed any other fruits
Yes	5172	21.81
No	18,542	78.19

Table 3 Variable Multilevel Logistic Regression Analysis of Factors Associated with Zero Fruit and Vegetable Consumption in East African Countries from 2015 to 2018

Variables	Models
	Null Model AOR (95% CI)	Model-I AOR (95% CI)	Model-II AOR (95% CI)	Model-III AOR (95% CI)
Maternal educational status
No formal education		1		1
Primary		0.69 (0.62, 0.77)		0.77 (0.69, 0.85)
Secondary		0.70 (0.61, 0.81)		0.75 (0.68, 0.90)
Higher		0.49 (0.37, 0.65)		0.49 (0.37, 0.64)
Husband educational status
No formal education		1		1
Primary		0.68 (0.60, 0.76)		0.75 (0.62, 0.78)
Secondary		0.75 (0.65, 0.86)		0.73 (0.62, 0.82)
Higher		0.94 (0.76, 1.15)		0.77 (0.62, 1.09)
Wealth index
Poorest		1		1
Poorer		0.81 (0.72, 0.91)		0.82 (0.73, 0.91)
Middle		0.77 (0.69, 0.87)		0.78 (0.69, 0.87)
Richer		0.78 (0.68, 0.89)		0.77 (0.68, 0.89)
Richest		0.74 (0.63, 0.86)		0.67 (0.56, 0.79)
Media exposure
No		1		1
Yes		0.73 (0.66, 0.79)		0.74 (0.67, 0.81)
Antenatal care visit
No		1		1
Yes		0.66 (0.57, 0.76)		0.91 (0.79, 1.05)
Place of delivery
Home		1		1
Health facility		0.72 (0.65, 0.79)		0.88 (0.80, 0.97)
Baby postnatal check within 2 months
No		1		1
Yes		0.88 (0.81, 0.97)		0.83 (0.76, 0.91)
Place of residence
Urban			1	1
Rural			1.50 (1.36, 1.65)	1.01 (0.90, 1.15)
Country
Burundi			1	1
Congo Democratic Republic			3.20 (2.59, 3.95)	3.54 (2.80, 4.46)
Ethiopia			19.42 (15.76, 23.93)	18.41 (14.66, 23.12)
Kenya			4.09 (3.36, 4.98)	5.63 (4.49, 7.05)
Comoros			9.62 (7.29, 12.70)	11.21 (8.38, 15.00)
Madagascar			2.65 (2.13, 3.30)	3.10 (2.42, 3.97)
Malawi			2.27 (1.81, 2.84)	3.44 (2.68, 4.40)
Rwanda			0.95 (0.73, 1.25)	1.21 (0.89, 1.65)
Tanzania			2.86 (2.31, 3.54)	3.80 (3.00, 4.81)
Uganda			4.65 (3.72, 5.81)	6.29 (4.92, 8.05)
Zambia			3.64 (2.95, 4.49)	5.05 (3.98, 6.40)
Zimbabwe			3.76 (2.94, 4.80)	6.11 (4.62, 8.08)
Random Effects
Community Variance	1.63	1.21	0.89	0.70
ICC%	33.30	26.90	21.32	17.67
Model Comparison
AIC	28164.68	22,213.61	26,418.31	21,180.26
BIC	28180.83	22,339.61	26,531.13	21,400.77

Data Sharing Statement

The Demographic and Health Surveillance data sets are open and online accessible by providing the request online at the Measure DHS website, www.measuredhs.com, along with an objective of the study. The corresponding author will provide the datasets used in the current work upon reasonable request.