Assessing the Potential Determinants of National Vitamin A Supplementation Among Children Aged 6-35 months in Ethiopia: Further Analysis of the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey

Background: Vitamin A is a nutrient that is required in a small amount for normal visual system function, growth and development, epithelia's cellular integrity, immune function, and reproduction. Vitamin A has a significant and clinically important effect since it has been associated with a reduction in all-cause and diarrhea mortality. The aim of this study was to determine factors associated with national vitamin A supplementation among children aged 6-35 months.

Method: The data for this study was extracted from the 2019 Ethiopian Mini Demographic and Health Survey. A total weighted sample of 2242 women with children aged 6-35 months was included in the study. The analysis was performed using Stata version 14.2 software. Applying sampling weight for descriptive statistics and complex sample design for inferential statistics, a manual backward stepwise elimination approach was applied. Finally, statistical significance declared at the level of p value < 0.05.

Result: The overall coverage of vitamin A supplementation among children aged 6-35 months for the survey included was 44.4 95% CI (40.15, 48.74). In the multivariable analysis, mothers who had four or more antenatal visits [AOR = 2.02 (95% CI: 1.34, 3.04)] were two times more likely to receive vitamin A capsules for their children than mothers who had no antenatal visits. Children from middle-wealth quintiles had higher odds of receiving vitamin A capsules in comparison to children from the poorest wealth quintile [AOR = 1.77 (95% CI: 1.14, 2.73)]. Older children had higher odds of receiving vitamin A capsules than the youngest ones. Other factors that were associated with vitamin A supplementation were mode of delivery and region.

Conclusion: The coverage of vitamin A supplementation in Ethiopia remains low and it is strongly associated with antenatal visit, household wealth index and age of child. Expanding maternal health services like antenatal care visits should be prioritized.