Abstract:
Background: Animal source foods are items that come from source such as fish, meat, dairy, eggs that contain high-quality protein and essential micronutrients. IN low- and middle-income countries, pregnant women often follow diets of poor-quality protein of plant-source foods, and inclusion of small amount of it into one's dietary intake has the potential to enhance the nutritional properties.
Objectives: To assess the level of animals source food consumption and associated factors among pregnant women in Ambo town, West Shoa, Ethiopia in 2023.
Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was employed among 590 pregnant women in Ambo town. Study participants were selected using a simple random sampling technique and data were collected using Kobo android app, and then exported to Statistical Package for Social Science version 25 for analysis. Binary logistic regression analyses were done to identify associated variables with animal source food consumption and, an adjusted odds ratio at a 95% CI was used to show an association between Animals source foods consumption with independent variables with p-value less than 0.05 were used to declare statistical significance. Frequencies and percentages were applied to categorical data, while mean and standard deviation was utilized for continuous data.
Results: The study revealed that, 40.2% (95% CI: 36.3, 44.2) of pregnant women consumed animal sourced foods, and women with higher education (AOR=2.31, 95% CI: 1.09, 4.85), age >35(AOR=3.13, 95% CI:1.61, 6.08), ANC (AOR=4.26, 95% CI: 2.05,8.89), multigravida (AOR=2.69, 95% CI:1.42-5.09), third trimester (AOR=1.93,95% CI:1.19, 3.15), and good knowledge of ASF consumption (AOR=1.96, 95% CI: 1.25, 3.07) were associated with animal source food consumption.
Conclusion and recommendation: The current study found that pregnant women in the study area had higher consumption of Animal source foods compared with the previous studies conducted, and higher educational status, >35 years, ANC, multigravida, in the third trimester, and good dietary knowledge was factors associated with it among pregnant women. Therefore, healthcare providers, program planner, and managers should consider these factors when developing interventions to promote the intake of ASF consumption among pregnant women
