Low dietary diversity and its determinants among adolescent girls in Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Normal growth and development of adolescent girls need a healthy diet which includes a variety of foods from different food groups. The dietary practice of adolescent girls in the study area was not assessed. The objective of this study was to assess the dietary diversity score and associated factors among adolescent girls. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted from 30 April 2019 to 30 May 2019 in Wolaita Zone Southern Ethiopia. A multistage sampling method was used to select 843 adolescent girls. A structured 24-h dietary recall (24 HR) interview was conducted to capture detailed information about all foods and beverages consumed by the respondent in the past 24 hours, most commonly, from “sun raise on the day before interview to sunrise on the date of interview”. Dietary diversity scores were calculated by summing the number of food groups consumed by the adolescent girl over the 24-h recall period. Socio-demographic, health, and sanitation-related data were collected using a structured interviewer-administered questionnaire which was developed based on a thorough reviewing of different literature. Data were entered into EPI-data version 4.4.2 and exported to SPSS for windows version 21.0 for further analysis. Multivariable logistic regression model was used to isolate independent predictors of adequate dietary diversity. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered as the level of statistical significance. The mean dietary diversity score of the study participants is 3.56 (±1.2). Overall 72.4% of the study participants had a low dietary diversity score. A low dietary diversity score is found to be a public health problem in the study area. Family monthly income [AOR (95%CI) = 15.5 (8.6–28.1)], fathers [AOR (95%CI) = 4.3 (1.8–10.6)] and mothers’ educational status [AOR (95%CI) = 3.2 (1.5–6.8)], not taking nutrition education [AOR (95%CI) = 2.1 (1.4–3.1)] and decision-making power [AOR (95%CI) = 2.2 (1.5–3.3)], were the main predictors of low dietary diversity among adolescent girls in southern Ethiopia. Family monthly income and education, providing nutrition education, and decision-making power should be improved. The results imply the need for promoting maternal education, nutrition education, and empowering women to have decision-making power to improve the dietary diversity of girls in the study area.