Minimum acceptable diet among children aged 6–23 months in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo: a community-based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Suboptimal child nutrition remains the main factor underlying child undernutrition in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This study aimed to assess the prevalence of minimum acceptable diet and associated factors among children aged 6–23 months old. Methods Community-based cross-sectional study including 742 mothers with children aged 6–23 months old was conducted in 2 Health Zones of South Kivu, Eastern DRC. WHO indicators of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) regarding complementary feeding practices were used. Logistic regression analysis was used to quantify the association between sociodemographic indicators and adequate minimum acceptable diet for both univariate and multivariate analysis. Results Overall, 33% of infants had minimum acceptable diet. After controlling for a wide range of covariates, residence urban area (AOR 2.39; 95% CI 1.43, 3.85), attendance postnatal care (AOR 1.68; 95% CI 1.12, 2.97), education status of mother (AOR 1.83; 95% CI 1.20, 2.77) and household socioeconomic status (AOR 1.72; 95% CI 1.14, 2.59) were factors positively associated with minimum acceptable diet. Conclusion Actions targeting these factors are expected to improve infant feeding practices in South Kivu.

Trends and determinants of minimum acceptable diet intake among infant and young children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia: a multilevel analysis of Ethiopian demographic and health survey

“…The likelihood of receiving the recommended minimum acceptable diet was higher among urban residents compared to those who reside in rural areas. This finding was in line with studies from South Kivu, the Democratic Republic of Congo [ 46 ], and Ethiopia [ 52 ]. This might be due to information access.…”

“…The current study also pointed out that infants and children of households with medium and highest wealth indexes were more likely to receive the minimum acceptable diet compared to those with the lowest wealth index. This finding was similar to studies conducted in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo [ 46 ], Philippines [ 49 ], and Goncha district, north West Ethiopia [ 48 ]. This may be due to the fact that diversifying diet and frequent feeding relies on the income of the households to secure their diet, which may be a difficulty for low-income countries like Ethiopia.…”

“…The odds of receiving the minimum acceptable diet were higher among mothers who attended primary school and above educational levels compared to those who had no formal education. This finding was supported by previous studies from South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo [ 46 ], Dembecha district, Northwest Ethiopia [ 47 ], and Goncha district, Northwest Ethiopia [ 48 ]. This may be due to the fact that those who attended education might have the chance to learn about diet and child feeding practices.…”

“…In the current study, we found that post-natal care determined the minimum acceptable diet for infants and young children. This finding was supported by a study from South Kivu, Democratic Republic of Congo [ 46 ]. This may be due to the reason that nutrition counseling and infant feeding are among the components of post-natal care.…”

Low dietary diversity is associated with linear growth faltering and subsequent adverse child developmental outcomes in rural Democratic Republic of the Congo (REDUCE program)

“…Additionally, in our cohort, 30% of children did not consume an protein source within the past 24 h. Country‐level DHS data from DRC found that 17% of children 6–23 months of age achieved MDD, even lower than the 26% in our study area (Heidkamp et al, 2020 ). A recently published study from South Kivu, DRC found that 21% of children 6–23 months in rural areas achieved MDD, and 45% of children in urban areas (Kambale et al, 2021 ). This is the only other published study on MDD from South, Kivu, DRC, and is similar to the findings from our study.…”