Growth monitoring and promotion (GMP) is a prevention activity comprised of growth monitoring (GM) linked with promotion that serves as the core activity in an integrated child health and nutrition program. However, different methods of institutional studies have shown that utilization of GM services has remained to be inadequate. There is scarcity of studies conducted about GMP in quantitative method. Therefore, this study was conducted to address the proportion of GMP services and associated factors among children under two years of age in rural communities of Mareka district, Southern Ethiopia. Community based cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to September 2015. Single population proportion formula was used to determine the sample size with multi stage sampling technique. A total of 819 children under two years of age were included. Pretest was done on 10% of the total sample size. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 software. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions used to analyze data. The response rate was 95%. Utilization of GMP services was 16.9%. Institutional delivery AOR (95% CI): 3.01(1.65–5.50), index child age 12–17 months AOR (95% CI): 4.03(2.16–7.51) and 18–23 months AOR (95% CI): 3.08(1.70–5.57), family size 4–5 AOR(95% CI): 0.14(0.06–0.33), family size >5 AOR(95% CI): 0.34(0.14–0.82), regular GMP attendance AOR (95% CI): 4.37(2.45–7.80), medium wealth index AOR(95% CI): 3.14(1.51–6.52) and high wealth index AOR(95% CI): 3.24(1.59–6.62) were factors associated with utilization of GMP services. Utilization of GMP services was low. Thus, efforts should be made to improve utilization of GMP services through promotion of institutional delivery, different family planning methods, and regular GMP attendance.

Background: Regular consumption of breakfast is associated with improved cognitive performance and nutrient intake in adolescents. Despite breakfast's positive attributes, many children go to school without breakfast. The objective of this study was to assess the association between breakfast eating habits and cognitive performance among early adolescents aged 11-13 years old in the study area. Method: A cross sectional study was conducted from June to July 2012. Structured questionnaire was used to capture breakfast eating habits, socioeconomic and demographic factors. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II tests was used for cognitive performance measurement. A representative sample size of 211 participants was selected randomly from 4 kebeles. The data was analyzed with SPSS version 16.0 software. Results: Of the 208 interview, 52% were girls while 48% were boys with mean (±SD) age of 12.01±0.82 years. Breakfast skipping prevalence was 42.3%. Regular breakfast eating habits were significantly (P<0.001) associated with Simultaneous scale and Pattern Reasoning. Regular breakfast eating habit and mother education were significantly (P<0.001) associated with Sequential scale explaining 13.7% variation. Regular breakfast eating habits were also significantly associated with Pattern Reasoning explaining 31.6 % variation. Conclusion: Irregular consumption or skipping breakfast and socio-demographic factors have beneficial influence on cognitive performance of adolescents. The important predictors of cognitive performance were breakfast eating habits and maternal education. We recommended that, parents and adolescents should be educated and trained on healthy breakfast eating patterns and good nutrition practices for healthy cognitive development of adolescents.

The authors have withdrawn this preprint due to author disagreement.

Background: Child undernutrition is a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Even though the highest levels of stunting are found in food insecure areas, insufficient evidence limits effective intervention to improve the situation. Therefore, this study aimed to assess undernutrition and associated factors among infants and young children aged 6–23 mo in food insecure households of Amhara and Oromia Regions, Ethiopia. Method: A community based cross-sectional study was conducted in productive safety net targeted rural households of Amhara and Oromia Regions from April 25 to June 15, 2018.A total of 464 mother-child dyads were included in the study. Both bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify factors associated with stunting, wasting and underweight separately. Results: The prevalence of stunting, wasting and underweight among children 6-23mo was 42.6%, 12.4% and 27.3% respectively. Age of the child 12-23vs 6-12mo(AOR = 4.21 95% CI: 2.52, 7.05), female (AOR = 1.84 [1.23, 2.75]), higher number of births (AOR = 1.72[1.10, 2.70]), lack of zinc supplement (AOR = 2.41[1.33, 4.38]), inadequate diet diversity (AOR=1.69[1.02, 2.81]) and lack of iodized salt in complementary food (AOR=1.55[1.03, 2.32]) were significantly associated with stunting. Similarly, age of child 12-23 mo (AOR=1.92[1.14, 3.24]), female gender (AOR = 1.88[1.22, 2.90]), higher number of births (AOR= 1.67[1.05, 2.66]), lack of zinc supplement (AOR=2.29[1.14, 4.61]), lower maternal income (AOR= 2.34[1.18, 4.65]), and inadequate diet diversity (AOR= 2.34[1.27, 4.33]) showed significant association with underweight. Conclusion: The magnitude of child undernutrition was found to be very high in the study areas. Child nutrition intervention strategies should take into account nutrition education on appropriate child feeding and iodized salt utilization. In addition, improving zinc supplementation and economic empowerment of women are important to address the high prevalence child undernutrition in the study area. Key words: Stunting, zinc, iodized salt, diet diversity, maternal income, food insecurity

Background: Poor growth and breakfast eating patterns are associated with delayed mental development and that there is a relationship between impaired growth status and both poor performance and reduced intellectual achievements. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of breakfast eating patterns and anthropometric measurements on cognitive function among early adolescents in the Rural Sidama, Southern Ethiopia. A cross-sectional study was conducted from June to July 2012. Structured questionnaire was used to capture breakfast eating patterns, socioeconomic and demographic factors. Anthropometric status was measured using the UNICEF SECA weighing scale and shorr measuring board. Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children-II tests was used for cognitive function measurement. A representative sample size of 211 participants was selected randomly from 4 kebeles. The data was analyzed with SPSS version 16.0 software and WHO anthroplus version 1.04. Results: Of the 208 interviewed, 52% were girls while 48% were boys with mean (±SD) age of 12.01±0.82 years. Breakfast skipping prevalence was 42.3%. Breakfast eating patterns and height-forage Z score were significant predictors of Pattern Reasoning cognitive test scores (P<0.001). Body mass index for age Z score was a significant predictor (P<0.001) of a combined Simultaneous scale. Regular breakfast pattern, height for age and body mass index for age Z score were significantly (P<0.001) associated with Pattern Reasoning explaining 28.8% variation. Conclusion: Adolescents who were stunted and underweight had lower cognitive test scores compared to those who were normal as well as those who consume breakfast irregularly. Anthropometric status and breakfast eating patterns was significant predictor of cognitive function of adolescents in the study area. We recommended that, parents and adolescents should be educated and trained on healthy breakfast eating patterns and good nutrition practices for healthy cognitive development.