Background Globally, acute respiratory infections are among the leading causes of under-five child mortality, especially in lower-income countries; it is associated with indoor exposure to toxic pollutants from solid biomass fuel. In Ethiopia, 90% of the population utilizes solid biomass fuel; respiratory illness is a leading health problem. However, there is a paucity of nationally representative data on the association of household cooking place and respiratory infections. Besides, evidence on the variability in the infection based on the data collected at different times is limited. Therefore, this study is intended to assess the association of food cooking place with acute respiratory infections and the variability in households and surveys. Methods The current analysis is based on the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data collected in 2005, 2011, and 2016 and obtained via online registration. The association of food cooking place with acute respiratory infection was assessed using multilevel modeling after categorizing all factors into child level and survey level, controlling them in a full model. The analyses accounted for a complex survey design using a Stata command “svy.” Result A total of 30,895 under-five children were included in this study, of which 3677 (11.9%) children had an acute respiratory infection, with 12.7% in 2005, 11.9% in 2011, and 11.1% in 2016. The risk of having an infection in under-five children in households that cooked food outdoors was 44% lower (AOR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.40, 0.75) compared to those households that cooked the food inside the house. There was a statistically significant difference among the children among surveys to have an acute respiratory infection. Conclusion The risk of having children with acute respiratory infection is lower in the households of cooking food outdoor compared to indoor. The infection difference in different surveys suggests progress in the practices in either food cooking places or the fuel types used that minimize food cooking places location or the fuel types used that minimizes the risk. But, the infection is still high; therefore, measures promoting indoor cooking in a well-ventilated environment with alternative energy sources should take place.

Nutritional rickets can be caused by either or both calcium and vitamin D deficiencies, and can frequently occur in Africa. In Ethiopia, limited evidence exists regarding the calcium intake of children and their sunlight exposure practices. The purpose of this study was to assess information regarding dietary calcium intake and sunlight exposure practice, which are factors related to nutritional rickets. The study was conducted in Dale Woreda, Southern Ethiopia using a community based cross-sectional survey design with both descriptive and analytic components. A total of 170 children were selected using multi-stage sampling technique. A structured questionnaire and an interactive 24-hour dietary assessment method were used to collect data on sociodemographic and economic information and to assess dietary calcium intake of participant children. The Ethiopian food composition table supplemented by world food data were used to convert dietary intake into nutrient content. The mean (SD) age of the study children was 14.4 (+4.7) months. The male to female ratio was 1.24. The mean (± SD) calcium intake of participant children was 407 ± 235 mg/day; 26.5% had low dietary calcium intake compared with their age specific recommended nutrient intake (RNI) value. Regarding sunlight exposure, 41.1% participant mothers exposed their child to sunlight within 1 (one) month of birth and 56.5% of study children were exposed to sunlight for 20 to 30 minutes per day. In conclusion, the risk of dietary calcium inadequacy was prevalent because of low intakes by some children. Even if only 26.5% of participating children had low dietary calcium intake, the children in the study area have some risk of dietary calcium inadequacy due to the high content of phytate in the prevailing complementary foods such as fruits and maize based complementary food, which can inhibit bioavailability of calcium. The participant children were not at risk of inadequate exposure to sunlight because they had good exposure practices and there was no sunlight avoidance practices among the majority of participant children.

Background: Acute respiratory infection is the leading causes of under-five child mortality globally especially in least income countries. Exposure to toxic pollutants from solid biomass fuel in the indoor environment is the main risk factor. In Ethiopia, where more than 90% of population use this energy source and the disease is one of the top health problems, there is a paucity of evidence on the association of cooking places with the disease based on nationally representative data. Therefore, the current study is intended to at assess the association of food cooking places with acute respiratory infection based on a large-scale and time varying data.Methods: The data of Ethiopian Demographic and health surveys collected in 2005, 2011 and 2016 were used for this study. The data were obtained via online registration and analyzed using a multilevel analysis. The “svy” command in Stata was used to weight the data to adjust for cluster sampling design. Result: The total number of children included in the analysis was 30895, with 9,517 from 2005, 11,176 from 2011 and 10, 291 from 2016 survey. In total, 11.9% of children had an acute lower respiratory infection with 12.7%, 11.9% and 11.1% respectively in 2005, 2011 and 2016. In 2005, 71% of mothers cooked food inside the house and it declined to 43% in 2016. The risk of the infection to children whose mother cooked food outside the house compared to inside the house was 68% less likely (AOR = 0.32, 95% CI= 0.10, 0.98). Watching television at least once in a week had also reduced the risk of infection (AOR=0.60, 95% CI =0.38, 0.94). There was a statistically a significant difference among the children of within survey to have an infection and no difference among the children of between surveys.Conclusion: The mothers’ cooking of food outside the house lessen the risk of children to have acute respiratory infection. No difference among different surveys on the infection suggests the rareness of progress in the practices that could minimize the risk therefore measures like encouraging to cook in indoor environment of well-ventilated needs to be taken.