Postwar dietary diversity among children aged 6-23 months in northern Ethiopia

Introduction: Conflict exacerbates poor complementary feeding and reduces dietary diversity. Before the 2020–2022 war in northern Ethiopia, around 74% of children aged 6–23 months failed to meet minimum dietary diversity (MDD) and post-war prevalence was unknown. This study aims to assess MDD prevalence and associated factors among children aged 6–23 months in a town in northern Ethiopia two years after the ceasefire.
Methodology: A health facility-based cross-sectional study of 584 participants was conducted in a town in northern Ethiopia. Sociodemographic and dietary data were collected using a 24-hour dietary recall questionnaire and analyzed in STATA ® version 15. Pre-war dietary diversity was estimated using data from the 2016 and 2019 Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys.
Results: MDD declined from 33.2% pre-war period to 25.2% (95% CI: 21.6-28.7) in the post-war period. Children aged 18–23 months were 2.8 times more likely to achieve MDD than those aged 6–11 months (p = 0.001..., Study Design and Population
This study employed a facility-based cross-sectional design, conducted in late 2024, in a town in northern Ethiopia. The study population comprised mothers/caregivers with children aged 6–23 months who attended Extended Program on Immunization (EPI) services at one of three randomly selected health centers. Participants were recruited through random sampling. Data on sociodemographic characteristics and dietary intake were collected via face-to-face interviews using a pretested and standardized questionnaire.
Study Setting
This study was conducted in a town in northern Ethiopia two years after the end of the war in northern Ethiopia (2020-2022). The town, located in nothern Ethiopia, has an estimated population of 600,000 as of 2024. It is served by several hospitals and health centers.
Study variables
The outcome variable was Minimum Dietary Diversity (MDD), defined as the consumption of foods and beverages from at least five of eight defined food groups wit..., , # Postwar dietary diversity among children aged 6-23 months in northern Ethiopia

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9p](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.djh9w0w9p)

## Description of the data and file structure

This dataset was collected as part of a cross-sectional comparative study examining the impact of war on child malnutrition by assessing dietary diversity among children aged 6–23 months in northern Ethiopia. Data were obtained from caregiver-reported 24-hour dietary recalls across post-conflict (2024) periods. The study aimed to determine changes in minimum dietary diversity (MDD) prevalence and identify factors influencing child nutrition in a post-war setting. Data collection involved structured interviews in randomly selected health facilities, with additional sociodemographic and household characteristics recorded. The dataset includes nutritional intake, socioeconomic variables, and household composition to facilitate further analysis of war-related disruptions in infant ...