Background: Unsafe child feces disposal has compounding effects on children’s wellbeing. In Ethiopia and many other countries, still, there is a common misconception that children’s feces are not harmful, and not end up in a toilet. Objective: The study aims to determine the magnitude and factors associated with unsafe child feces disposal in Ethiopia. Methods: The study is cross-sectional in nature and the analysis was based on data from 1st to 4th rounds of the population-based Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS) conducted between 2000 and 2016. Descriptive statistics were computed to illustrate the given data. Multivariable logistic regression was performed, adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were used to identify factors associated with unsafe child feces disposal. Results: The pooled dataset contained information on 40,520 children younger than 5 years, male accounts 20,629 (50.9%). Overall, 77.7% (95%CI: 76.3-79.0) of children feces disposed of unsafely. In the multivariable logistic regression model, those mothers whose child was 13-24 months [AOR: 0.68, 95% CI: (0.60-0.78)] and ≥ 25 months [AOR: 0.66, 95% CI: (0.60-0.72)] were lower odds of unsafe child’s feces disposal. Children born into households having two or fewer children were 33% lower [AOR: 0.67, 95% CI: (0.56-0.79)] odds of unsafe child’s feces disposal than their counterparts. The odds of disposing of feces unsafely among households having improved toilet facility was 76% lower [AOR: 0.24, 95% CI: (0.19-0.29)] that of households lacking such facilities. Being an urban resident, having improved drinking water facility, a high level of maternal and paternal education, paternal occupational status (work in non-agriculture), and maternal age were factors associated with lower odds of unsafe child's feces disposal. Conclusions: Three in four Ethiopian children feces disposed of unsafely. Unsafe child feces disposal is less prevalent among households that had improved water and toilet facility, those in urban areas, those with older children, those with a high level of maternal and paternal education, and those with a lower number of under-five children. There is a need for more attention to be paid to curtail the significant burden of unsafe child feces disposal in Ethiopia.

Background: The only safest way to dispose of a child’s feces is to help the child use a toilet or, for very young children, to put or rinse their feces into a toilet; whereas all other disposals are considered unsafe (feces put/rinsed into a drain or ditch, bush or thrown into the garbage, buried or left on the ground, and not disposed of). The study aims to determine the magnitude and factors associated with unsafe child feces disposal in Ethiopia.Methods: The study is cross-sectional in nature and based on the pooled data from the four rounds of Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) conducted in Ethiopia (2000-16). Data on child feces disposal practice was collected for all children born during the five years preceding survey. To get detail about the disposal of children’s feces, mothers of under-five children were asked, “The last time passed stools, what was done to dispose of the stools?” with respect to the youngest child born. Descriptive statistics were computed to illustrate the given data. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to identify factors associated with unsafe child feces disposal. Results: The pooled dataset contains data for 40,520 children younger than 5 years, male accounts 20,629 (50.9%). Overall, 77.7% (95%CI: 76.3-79.0) of children feces disposed of unsafely. In the multivariable logistic regression model, those mothers whose child was 13-24 months [AOR: 0.68, 95% CI: (0.60-0.78)] and ≥ 25 months [AOR: 0.66, 95% CI: (0.60-0.72)] were lower odds of unsafe child’s feces disposal. Children born into households having two or fewer children were 33% lower [AOR: 0.67, 95% CI: (0.56-0.79)] odds of unsafe child’s feces disposal than their counterparts. The odds of disposing of feces unsafely among households having improved toilet facility was 76% lower [AOR: 0.24, 95% CI: (0.19-0.29)] that of households lacking such facilities. Further, being an urban resident, having improved drinking water facility, a high level of maternal and paternal education, paternal occupational status (work in non-agriculture), and maternal age (25-34 and ≥ 35 years) were factors associated with lower odds of unsafe child's feces disposal.Conclusions: Three in four Ethiopian children feces disposed of unsafely. Household and socio-demographic factors, such as access to improved water and toilet facility, area of a resident (urban), the child’s age (older age), and both higher maternal and paternal education levels were significantly associated with lower odds of unsafe child feces disposal.