Abstract:
Background: Complementary food is infant formula or follow-on formula given to infants in a
form of liquids, semi-liquids, and solids other than breast milk within 6-8 months. From six
months of age, children are at high risk of malnutrition and thus timely introduction of
nutritionally adequate, consistent, age appropriate complementary feeding is advised for
improved health and development of infants.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of timely initiation of complementary feeding practice and
associated factors among children aged 6 to 24 months in Jaldu district, West Shoa Zone,
Ethiopia, 2021.
Methods: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted from August 1-30, 2021
among five hundred thirty nine (539) mothers who have children aged 6 –24 months in Jaldu
district. The study participants were selected using systematic random sampling technique from
ten selected kebeles. A pretested structured questionnaire was used to collect data using a face to-face interview. Data were entered into Epi-Data version 3.1 and analysis was done by using
Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Descriptive statistics (frequency,
mean, standard deviation and percentage) was used to describe variables. Bi-variable and
multivariable logistic regression analyses were estimated to assess independent factors associated
with timely initiation of complementary feeding. The Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) along with a
95 % Confidence Interval (CI) were computed to assess the strength of association, and variables
with P-value of <0.05 were considered as statistically significant.
Results: The study demonstrated that, the prevalence of timely initiation of complementary
feeding was 72.1% (95% CI: 67.2%-75.4%). Residence of mother [AOR=2.029; 95% CI: (1.085,
3.796)], ANC follow up [AOR=2.045; 95% CI: (1.318, 3.173)], Place of delivery [AOR=1.988;
95% CI: (1.292, 3.060)] and PNC follow up [AOR=1.883; 95% CI: (1.227, 2.890)], and source
of information were predictors of timely initiation of complementary feeding.
Conclusion: In this area, less than three fourth of mothers timely initiated complementary foods
which is relatively low. Therefore, intensifying utilization of antenatal care, institutional delivery
and postnatal care helps to improve the coverage of timely initiation of complementary feeding.
Furthermore, the focus needs to be on rural women.
