Prevalence of Dietary Diversity and Associated Factors among Adolescent Girls in Chelia District, West Shoa Zone, Oromia, Ethiopia

Abstract

Background: Dietary diversity (DD) is a qualitative measure of food consumption that reflects household access to a variety of foods and is also a proxy for nutrient adequacy of the diet of individuals. Low dietary diversity continuous to be a public health challenge in developing countries including Ethiopia. The previous studies in Ethiopia were conducted on dietary diversity among under-five children and pregnant and lactating women which could not represent adolescent girls and hindered the implementation of effective intervention strategies. Objective: To assess the prevalence of dietary diversity and associated factors among adolescent girls in Chelia district, West Shoa Zone, Ethiopia, 2024. Methods: Community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted among 413 adolescent girls in Chelia district from January 20 to February 30, 2024. The study participants were selected using a systematic sampling technique. The collected data were checked, coded, and entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to the statistical package for Social Science version 26.0 for cleaning and analysis. Bivariable was conducted and variables with p-values less than 0.25 were candidates for multivariable logistic regression and multivariable analysis was used to assess the association of the predictors with the outcome variable. Results: A total of 413 adolescent girls have participated with a response rate of 99.3%. The prevalence of inadequate dietary diversity was found to be 44.3% (95%CI: 42.21-46.78). Being rural residence (AOR= 3.22; 95%CI: 1.27-5.69), eating less than three meal per day (AOR=2.12; 95%CI: 1.13-3.21), having poor knowledge (AOR= 1.99; 95%CI: 1.16-3.71), and having unfavorable attitude toward nutrition (AOR= 2.1; 95%CI: 1.51-4.17), food insecured (AOR= 1.99; 95%CI: 1.23-2.08) and middle wealth index classification/rank (AOR= 0.48; 95%CI: 0.14- 0.81) were predictors of dietary diversity (P < 0 .05). Conclusion: The current study showed that adolescent girls in the study area had high prevalence of inadequate dietary diversity. Rural residence, eating less than three meal per day, poor knowledge and unfavorable attitude toward nutrition, food insecurity status and middle wealth index classification/rank were predictors of inadequate dietary diversity. Therefore, the Woreda Health Office would provide a comprehensive public health intervention (create awareness) to alleviate this problem.