Factors affecting feeding 6-23 months age children according to minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia: A multilevel analysis of the Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey

Background Though infant and young children should be fed according to a minimum acceptable diet to ensure appropriate growth and development, only 7% of Ethiopian 6-23 months age children meet the minimum acceptable dietary standards, which is lower than the national target of 11% set for 2016. Therefore, this study aims to assess the individual and community level factors affecting feeding according to minimum acceptable diet among 6-23 months age children in Ethiopia. Methods This study analyzed retrospectively a cross-sectional data on a weighted sample of 2919 children aged 6-23 months nested within 617 clusters after extracting from Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2016 via the link www.measuredhs.com. By employing bi-variate multilevel logistic regression model, variables which were significant at the p-value < 0.25 were included in multivariable multilevel logistic regression analysis. Finally, variables with a p-value < 0.05 were considered as significant predictors of minimum acceptable diet. Results Only 6.1% of 6-23 months age children feed minimum acceptable diet in Ethiopia. Children 18-23 months age (AOR = 3.7, 95% CI 1.9, 7.2), father's with secondary or higher education (AOR = 2.1, 95% CI 1.2, 3.6), Employed mothers (AOR = 1.7, 95% CI 1.2, 2.5), mothers have access to drinking water (AOR = 1.9, 95% CI 1.2, 2.9), mothers with media exposure (AOR = 2.1 95% CI 1.1, 2.7) were positive individual level predictors. Urban mothers (AOR = 4.8, 95% CI 1.7, 13.2)) and agrarian dominant region (AOR = 5.6, 95% CI 2.2, 14.5) were community level factors that significantly associated with a minimum acceptable diet of 6-23 months age children. Conclusion Both individual and community level factors were significantly associated with a minimum acceptable diet of 6-23 months age children in Ethiopia, suggesting that nutritional interventions designed to improve child health should not only be implemented at the individual level but tailored to community context as well.