Household Dietary Diversity and Associated Factors among Rural Residents of Gomole District, Borena Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia.

Background: Low dietary diversity is the main public health issue in developing countries. Despite its burden, there is a paucity of information on the dietary diversity of households and related factors in rural residents of southern Ethiopia. Therefore, this study assessed household dietary diversity and associated factors among rural residents of Gomole district.

Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from November 1 to December 30, 2020, among 554 randomly selected rural households. Data were collected by using pretested structured face-to-face interviews about dietary intake by any household members within the past 24 h. The data were coded and entered into Epi data 3.1 and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 23. Both descriptive and analytic statistics were employed. Adjusted odds ratios (AORs) together with 95% confidence intervals and p values of less than 0.05 were used to declare statistical significance.

Results: Out of the total, 19% (95%; CI = 15.7-22.2) of households had adequate dietary diversity scores. The mean (±SD) dietary diversity score was 5.12 (±1.6). The most consumed food groups in the study area were cereals/grains (96.4%), condiments (salt and beverages (tea)) (84.3%) and milk and milk products (80%). The sex of the household head (AOR = 2.31, 95% CI: 1.04-5.13), bank account ownership (AOR = 2.18, 95% CI: 1.04-4.59), and livestock ownership (AOR = 4.75, 95% CI: 1.35-16.73) were positively associated with dietary diversity. However, distance to the marketplace (AOR = 0.11, 95% CI: 0.02-0.56) was negatively associated with adequate dietary diversity.

Conclusion: There is low dietary diversity among households of study area. Improving livestock rearing and bank accounts should be strengthened through strong intersectional collaboration to alleviate the problem.