ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Diet diversification is essential to prepare adequate food that is useful for children's physical and cognitive development. Despite the limited studies performed in different parts of Ethiopia, the information about the feeding practice of children in the current study area is not documented. Thus, this study intended to assess the dietary diversity practices and associated factors among children aged 6-23 months. METHODS: Community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 517 children aged 6-23 months paired with their mothers in Robe town. Systematic sampling technique was applied to select a child-mother pair. Data were collected using a pretested and structured questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify the factors associated with the dependent variable. Adjusted odds ratios with 95% confidence interval were used to assess the strength of association and level of significance. RESULTS: From a total of 508 children included, making a 98% response rate, 77% of them did not meet the minimum dietary diversity. Children aged 12-23 months were more likely fed diversified food when compared with those aged 6-11 months (AOR = 2.99). Mothers whose educational level was secondary and above (AOR = 3.21), had media exposure (AOR = 3.99), and were knowledgeable about diet diversification (AOR = 8.5) were more likely to feed their child diversified food than their counterpart. Children whose father was a merchant were more likely to receive a diversified diet compared to those whose fathers were daily laborers. CONCLUSIONS: Inadequate practices of minimum dietary diversity observed in the current study area were mainly associated with the child's age, maternal education, mothers' knowledge on diet diversification, and media exposure. Improving knowledge of mothers, increasing their education, and promoting appropriate infant and child feeding practices through media are an important intervention to improve dietary diversity practices.
ABSTRACT
Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia (CBPP) is a highly contagious disease of cattle which is one of the great plagues which continues to devastate the cattle herds on which so many people are dependent in Africa. Cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2015 to August 2016 to determine the seroprevalence of CBPP in cattle and associated risk factors in Gimbo district, Southwest Ethiopia. A total of 384 serum samples were collected and tested for the presence of specific antibodies against Mycoplasma mycoides subspecies mycoides small colony (MmmSC), using a competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (cELISA). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analysis were performed to determine the association between risk factors and seroprevalence of CBPP. An overall seroprevalence of CBPP was 8.1% (31/384) and it was ranging from 0% to 20% across different Peasant associations (PAs). The seroprevalence of CBPP among adult animals was 8.5% (25) and in young 6.6% (6), in good body condition animals 6.6% (18) and in poor 11.5% (13), in dry season 11.9% (20) and in rainy 5.1% (11), and in highland altitude 2.5% (3), midland 3.8% (5), and lowland 17.4% (23). Among the potential predisposing factors assessed, altitude was found significantly (p = 0.02, OR = 7.3) associated with the seroprevalence of contagious bovine pleuropneumonia and other risk factors had no significant (P > 0.05) influence. The present study showed that the overall seroprevalence of CBPP in Gimbo district was high and this indicates a need for intervening and implementing control measures to prevent further spread of the disease in the district through the use of better and coordinated vaccination program.
