Abstract:
Background: Undernutrition contributes to 3.1 million child deaths annually. Bottle feeding is linked to poorer health outcomes in infants. Despite the world health organization (WHO's) breastfeeding recommendations to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months of a child’s life, the prevalence of bottle feeding is increasing in Ethiopia, raising concerns about potential impacts on child health. However, there is a lack of data on the prevalence and Factors of bottle feeding in Gondar city. Therefore, his study aimed to assess the prevalence and factors associated with bottle feeding practices in Gondar city.
Objective: To assess the prevalence of bottle-feeding practices and associated factors among mothers of children aged 0-23 months in Gondar town, northwest Ethiopia.
Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected 584 mothers having children aged 0-23 months in Gondar city between May and July 2024. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews and analyzed using logistic regression. Data was collected by using Kobo Collect and exported to STATA Version 17 for further analysis. Variables with p<0.25 in bivariate analysis were included in multivariable analysis, and those with p<0.05 were considered significant predictors. COR and AOR measured the strength of associations.
Results: Out of 584 participating mothers, ----- were participated in the study yielding the response rate was 96.1%. The median (±IQR) age of mothers was 30 (± 7) years, the study found that the prevalence of bottle feeding was 42.3%, 95% CI: (38.3, 46.4)]. Significant factors associated with bottle feeding practices included being government employee [(AOR= 2.52, 95% CI: (1.46, 4.34)] and private sectors employee [(AOR=2.03, 95% CI: (1.14, 3.64)], having infants aged 6-11 months [(AOR = 2.41; 95% CI: (1.17, 5.18)] and 12-23 months [(AOR = 5.44; 95% CI: (2.81, 10.54)], medium wealth index [(AOR = 1.67; 95% CI: (1.03, 2.70)], home delivery [(AOR+ 5.07, 95% CI: (2.88, 12.79)], cesarean delivery [(AOR = 2.06; 95% CI: (1.34, 3.18)], and unfavourable maternal attitudes towards ?? [(AOR= 1.96, 95% CI: (1.32, 2.91)]. Conclusion: The magnitude of bottle-feeding practice was significantly higher in this study as compared to national prevalence. Being Government and private employee infant age, having a medium wealth index, place of delivery and cesarean section delivery, and maternal attitude towards bottle feeding were found to be predictors of bottle feeding practice in the study area. Strengthening dietary behavioral modification for mothers who have children 0–23 months old to practice appropriate feeding is recommended.
