Abstract:
Background: Essential nutrition action (ENA) is an approach to expand the coverage of seven
affordable and evidence-based nutrition actions focuses on the critical first 1,000 days from
pregnancy through a child’s second birthday. These practices are key to reducing nutrition-related
morbidity and mortality among young children. However, limited recent research exists on how
key ENA messages are practiced, particularly in urban settings.
Objective: To assess the practice of key Essential nutrition action messages and associated factors
among mothers of children aged 6–24 months in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia.
Method: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted on 837 mothers of children
aged 6–24 months in Gondar city from July 15 to September 15, 2024. A multi-stage sampling
technique was used to select participants. Data were gathered through structured, adapted, and
pretested interviewer-administered questionnaires. Data collection was done using Kobo Collect
version 2022.1.2 and analyzed with SPSS version 25.0. Both bi-variable and multi-variable logistic
regression analyses were done to identify factors influencing mothers’ practice of key essential
nutrition action messages. Statistical significance was set at p-value < 0.05 with a 95% confidence
interval.
Result: The study found that 51.9% (95% CI: 48.5, 55.2) of mothers demonstrated good practices
of key ENA messages. Factors significantly associated with good practice included maternal
education (AOR = 1.84; 95% CI: 1.05–3.24), receipt of postnatal care (AOR = 1.68; 95% CI: 1.21–
2.34), higher wealth status (AOR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.07–2.34), access to nutritional information
(AOR = 3.1; 95% CI: 1.9–5.12), good knowledge (AOR = 2.27; 95% CI: 1.66–3.10), and good
attitudes (AOR = 3.96; 95% CI: 2.89–5.41).
Conclusion and recommendation: This study revealed that the practice of key essential nutrition
action messages among mothers relatively good but still requires improvement. Enhancing
maternal education, improving access to postnatal care, and scaling up nutrition information
campaigns are recommended to strengthen key ENA message implementation.
