Dietary diversity and associated factors among breastfeeding women in Moroto District, Northern Uganda: a hospital based cross-sectional study

Abstract

Introduction: This study assessed the dietary diversity among the breast Moroto Regional Referral Hospital (MRRH), Moroto district. The feeding women in study objectives were; 1) To determine the dietary diversity of breastfeeding women in Moroto district, 2) to determine the nutrition status of the breastfeeding women in Moroto district, 3) to determine the factors associated with dietary diversity among the breastfeeding mothers in Moroto district. Methodology: This was a hospital based cross lactating mothers using semi-- sectional survey conducted on a sample of 102 structured questionnaires. The dietary diversity score (DDS) of respondents was categori zed as >= 5 food groups consumed by the mother in the previous 24 hours. Data was analysed quantitatively using SPSS. Results: The findings of dietary diversity of the lactating mothers clearly revealed that on average, 3 food groups is the average number of food groups consumed (31.4%). However, at maximum 6 food groups (3.9%) and at minimum some mothers consumed 1 type of food group (5.9%), while majority consumed 2 food groups (34.3%). The nutritional status of lactating mother’s results indicated that SAM . the majority of mothers were normal (59.3%), (30.7%) were MAM and (3.9%) were The findings also revealed that the factors that there is no association between dietary diversity and the following factors: antenatal visit to health facility(P=0.00), pla ce of delivery(p=0.001), distance of water source from home(p=0.003), presence of a kitchen garden(p=0.002), presence of land for cultivation(p=0.004), education on proper feeding of breastfeeding mothers (0.005) and food taboos (0.001). These factors fur ther revealed that there is an association between them and dietary diversity: presence of food in store (p=0.028), own food production (p=0.016), relying on food hand outs from organisations like WFP (p=0.119) and food allergies(p=0.008). Conclusion: The study concluded that malnutrition among lactating mothers in Moroto district is moderate and their dietary diversity is very low. The study therefore recommends that there is need to sensitize the community on the necessity of diet diversification in orde r to improve the nutritional status.