Commercial complementary food feeding and associated factors among mothers of children aged 6–23 months old in Mettu Town, Southwest Ethiopia, 2022

BACKGROUND: Commercial complementary foods (CCF) are unhealthy products for children under 24 months, containing unhealthy fats, refined starches, sugars, salt, and additives. The consumption of CCF is linked to non-communicable diseases, making it crucial to assess intake in Ethiopia, especially in Mettu town. OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of commercial complementary food feeding and associated factors among mothers of 6–23 months old children in Mettu Town, 2022. METHOD: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Mettu town, involving 386 randomly selected mothers of children aged 6–23 months. Data was collected using a pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Variables with a P-value < 0.05 in the multivariable logistic regression were declared as having a statistically significant association with CCF feeding. RESULTS: The prevalence of CCF feeding within 24 h before the reporting period was 44.3%. In multivariable regression analysis, the age of index child 0-11months (AOR = 2.43, 95%CI: 1.53–3.85), non-exclusive breastfeeding (AOR = 2.18, 95%CI: 1.34–3.52), exposure to CCF promotions (AOR = 2.15, 95%CI: 1.32–3.50), maternal employment (AOR = 2.10, 95%CI: 1.28–3.44), and higher tertile wealth status (AOR = 2.19, 95%CI: 1.17–4.10) were significantly associated with CCF feeding. CONCLUSION: The current study revealed that nearly half of the mothers in Mettu town were feeding their children with commercially produced complementary foods. Age of child, non-exclusive breastfeeding, CCF promotions, maternal employment, and higher wealth status were found to have a significant association with CCF feeding. Therefore, continuous health education should be given to mothers to encourage exclusive breastfeeding until 6 months of age and to improve home-made complementary food feeding.