Objectives To determine complementary feeding practices (CFP) among 6-to-23-month-old children and to identify associations between maternal and household characteristics with CFP. Methods Cross-sectional study conducted among rural communities located within the Sidama and Oromia regions in Ethiopia. Pairs of mothers and their children (N = 190) were randomly selected to participate in the survey. Data was collected using the WHO Infant and Young Child Feeding indicators, Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, and Knowledge on CFP. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to analyze factors associated with CFP. Results Most (87.4%) of the children achieved minimum meal frequency, while only 27.4% achieved minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and 26.8% minimum acceptable diet (MAD). Majority (80%) of the households were food insecure, with 40% of the households reporting severe food insecurity. Half (50.0%) of participating mothers showed poor levels of knowledge on CFP. Children of employed mothers were more likely to meet MDD (P = .014) and achieve MAD (P = .034). Furthermore, children of mothers that had adequate knowledge on the recommended CFP were more likely to achieve MDD (P < .001) and MAD (P < .001). In contrast, children living in households with an estimated annual income lower than $254 dollars were less likely to achieve MDD (P < .05) and MAD (P < .05). Similarly, children living in households with moderate to severe levels of food insecurity were less likely to achieve MDD (P = .003 and P = .012, respectively) and MAD (P = .005 and P = .023, respectively). Conclusions Complementary feeding practices were suboptimal in the Sidama and Oromia region in Ethiopia. Low household income and food insecurity seem to hinder the achievement of MDD and MAD, while maternal employment and knowledge on CFP contributed to a diversified and adequate diet among children. Thus, policies and interventions that target poverty, food insecurity, maternal unemployment, and nutrition education are necessary for the improvement of CFP. Funding Sources United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Food Security as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems.

Objectives To assess factors that contribute to the total diet quality and the associated body mass index (BMI) among adults. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted to assess dietary quality using the Healthy Eating Index (HEI)-2015 among faculty and staff (N = 152) of a public university. The Food Frequency Questionnaire from the Health and Retirement Study was administered via Qualtrics. Dietary quality was determined using the HEI-2015. Weight, height, number of meals consumed away-from-home per week were self-reported. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze demographic characteristics, number of meals consumed away-from-home, dietary intake, and associated HEI score was calculated. Linear regression models were used to measure associations between the total diet quality, nutrient intakes and the number of away-from-home meals consumed with BMI. Results The average age of participants was 34.3 ± 12.3 years. A majority were female and white Americans (74.3%) and had post-secondary education (79.6%). Approximately, one-third of participants (32.2%) reported having a BMI equal or greater than 30 kg/m2. More than half of the participants exceeded the recommended limit for the consumption of saturated fats (69.7%), and sodium (52.6%); and a majority did not meet the minimum recommended intakes of dietary fiber (96.1%). The average HEI score was 66.34 on a 100-point scale. Only 14.5% had a good dietary quality with a HEI score equal or higher than 80. The number of away-from-home meals consumed per week were associated with an increased intake of trans fatty acids (P < .05), while, increased the consumption of trans fatty acids was associated with an increase in BMI (P < .001) in this study. On the contrary, an increase in the HEI score was associated with a reduction in BMI (P < .05). Conclusions This study found that a high percentage of participants had a low diet quality that was characterized by excessive intake of both saturated fats and sodium and inadequate intake of dietary fiber. In addition, the consumption of meals away-from-home was associated with an increase in the amount of trans fatty acids consumed. Concurrently, the consumption of trans fatty acids was associated with an increase in BMI. These results underscore the importance of eating meals prepared at home in an effort to control weight gain. Funding Sources TTU Transdisciplinary Research Academy.

Objectives To determine the difference in underlying factors related to child nutritional status between pastoral and agro pastoral based communities in Ethiopia. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in two rural pastoral communities located in the Somali region and agro pastoral community located in Southern Nations. Pairs of mothers and their infants aged 6 to 52 months were randomly selected to participate in the survey. Data was collected using the Household Food Insecurity Access Scale, Dietary Diversity, and Sanitation for Household Survey. Anthropometric measurements taken included height, length, and weight using WHO Anthro version 3.2.2. Chi-square tests were used to assess differences between communities. Logistic regression were used to analyze factors that contributed to infant health status. Results A total of 232 participants from both communities completed the survey. The agro pastoral community reported a higher food insecurity rate at 87% than the pastoral community at 70%. The prevalence of women not achieving the minimum dietary diversity was significantly higher in the pastoral community than the agro pastoral community (94% vs 68%, P < .001). Similarly, more households in the pastoral community reported accessing drinking water from unimproved sources (64% vs 0.9%, P < .001) and using unimproved toilet facilities (97% vs. 77%, P < .001) than the agropastoral community. Although almost all participants from both the agropastoral and pastoral communities reported washing their hands during critical times (100% and 96%) respectively. In addition, the pastoral community had significantly higher prevalence rates of infants’ wasting (44.5% vs 0%, P < .001) and underweight (47.8% vs 7.7%, P < .001) than the agro pastoral community. Conclusions Even though the prevalence of food insecurity was higher in the agro pastoral community than the pastoral community, they had lower rates of infant malnutrition. In contrast, although the pastoral community reported a lower rate of food insecurity, they had higher rates of child wasting and underweight, reported low dietary diversity, and poor hygiene practices. Based on these findings, dietary diversity and environmental sanitation may be protective of child wasting and underweight over and above food insecurity. Funding Sources Feed the Future Livestock Systems Innovation Lab (LSIL).

Objectives The objective of this study was to explore personal, environmental, and behavioral factors that lead to intentions to adopt healthy dietary behaviors among university students aged 18–36 years. Methods In this cross-sectional study, a total of 520 university students completed an online questionnaire, which was developed based on the Social Cognitive Theory, with some elements of the Theory of Planned Behavior. The questionnaire comprised personal, behavioral, and environmental factors, such as previous exposure to nutrition, media, modeling from parents and peers, as well as barriers, attitudes, self-efficacy, and outcome expectations, that may influence intentions to adopt healthy eating behaviors. Relationships between factors that may influence behavior intentions and the intentions were examined using multivariate linear regression. Results Out of the total 520 students, majority of the participants were women (69.6%) and Caucasian (54.4%). Social media and the Internet were reported as the main influencers of food choices by majority of the participants (73.9%). Results of this study showed that self-efficacy and media were significantly important factors on forming intentions to adopt healthy eating behaviors (P < 0.05). Positive attitude and food taste significantly predicted intentions to eat at least 3 servings of vegetables (P < 0.05); whereas, modeling from parents and peers was significantly important in intention to choose skim milk (P = 0.025). Previous exposure to nutrition class was not a significant factor in forming any of the eight healthy behavior intentions; however, it significantly influenced attitudes and self-efficacy (P < 0.05), which in turn significantly predicted the intentions to adopt healthy eating behaviors. Conclusions The results of this study underscore the importance of media influence, self-efficacy, and modeling from parents and friends, as direct predictors of healthy eating behaviors among college students. The findings also emphasize the role of nutrition exposure in influencing self-efficacy and positive attitudes towards intentions to practice healthy eating behaviors. Funding Sources None.