Author(s): Kassu Arussa*, Fikadu Reta, Dereje Getahun
There are limited studies in Ethiopian context about the magnitude of positive changes on the nutritional status and dietary diversity of children as a result of nutrition sensitive agriculture interventions. Therefore, the aim of this study was providing improved poultry husbandry together with key nutrition messages to assess its effect on dietary diversity and nutritional status of children of age 6–23 months. Quasi-experimental study design was employed on 246 mother-child pair respondents. Anthropometric measurements were taken at the baseline and end line. Data regarding socio-demographic, child and mother related characteristics were collected using semi-structured questionnaire. Dietary diversity data was collected using the WHO seven food groups. The result showed that attaining minimum dietary diversity was improved significantly (P<0.05) from 11% at the baseline to 71.5% at the end line: Egg consumption was significantly (p<0.05) increased from 19% at the baseline to 100% at the end line: Prevalence of stunting was reduced from 41.9% at the baseline to 40.7% at the end line: Underweight was reduced from 28.9% at the baseline to 27.6% at the end line: Wasting significantly (p<0.05) decreased from 14.2% at the baseline to 12.2% at the end line. It is concluded that providing improved poultry husbandry together with key nutrition messages could improve the dietary diversity and the nutritional status of the children. Collaboration of stakeholders on agriculture and food-based interventions were recommended to improve the dietary diversity and nutritional status of children.
