Zero Fruit and Vegetables Consumption and Associated Factors Among Children Aged 6–23 Months Old in Eastern Africa

Introduction: Despite WHO and UNICEF recommending the consumption of fruit and vegetables by children as one of their indicators for evaluating infant and young child feeding practices, there is a dearth of literature about the magnitude of fruit and vegetable consumption among 6– 23-month-old children in Eastern Africa. The current study adds to the scholarly discourse by providing insight into the magnitude of fruit and vegetable intake among 6– 23-months-old children in East Africa. Methods: The secondary source data analysis was conducted for 12 Eastern African countries. Twenty-three thousand seven hundred and fourteen children aged 6– 23 months were included in this analysis. A multilevel statistical model with an odds ratio of 95% was fitted to estimate the strength of the association between zero fruits and vegetables and explanatory variables. Results: Our study showed that 32.20%, with a 95% CI of 31.70– 32.81, of children aged 6– 23 months did not consume any fruit or vegetables. Mother's educational status AOR═ 0.77, CI: (0.69, 0.85), AOR ═ 0.75, CI: (0.68, 0.90), AOR ═ 0.49, CI: (0.37, 0.64), husband's educational status AOR═ 0.75, CI: (0.62, 0.78) and AOR ═ 0.73, CI: (0.62, 0.82), wealth index AOR═0.82, CI: (0.73, 0.91), [AOR═0.78, CI: (0.69, 0.87), AOR═ 0.77, CI: (0.68, 0.89), AOR═ 0.67, CI: (0.56, 0.79), Media exposure, AOR═ 0.74, CI: (0.67, 0.81), Place of delivery AOR═0.88, CI: (0.80, 0.97) and child's postnatal checkup within the first 2 months AOR═ 0.83, CI: (0.76, 0.91) were significantly associated with zero fruit and vegetables. Conclusion: The magnitude of zero fruit and vegetables was found to be high. These findings are commendable, yet demand emphasis on interventions that target households with lower wealth indexes and integrating nutritional counseling into routine healthcare visits may help increase awareness and benefits of consuming fruits and vegetables. Keywords: early childhood nutrition, fruit and vegetables, complimentary feeding, regression