Iron-rich food consumption and predictors among children aged 6–59 months old in Ethiopia: A multilevel complex sample analysis of the Ethiopian mini-demographic and health survey 2019 data

Background: Children with inadequate iron consumption had slower growth, weaker immunity, and poor cognitive development. Although the public health importance of iron-rich consumption in Ethiopia is known, evidence for iron-rich food consumption and predictors among children aged 6–59 months old in Ethiopia is sparse. This study aimed to assess iron-rich food consumption and predictors among children aged 6–59 months old in Ethiopia. Methods: This study used Ethiopia mini demographic and health survey 2019 (EMDHS-2019) data with a total weighted sample size of 5,112 among children aged 6–59 months old. A multilevel mixed effect logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors of good iron-rich food consumption. Results: The proportion of good consumption of iron-rich foods among children aged 6–59 months was 27.99% (24.22, 32.10%). The findings revealed that children born to mothers who completed primary education [AOR = 1.88, 95% CI: 1.11, 3.19], a higher education [AOR = 4.45, 95% CI: 1.28, 15.48], being born to the poorer family [AOR = 1.89, 95% CI: 1.04, 3.43], richer [AOR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.03, 4.36], and richest [AOR = 3.57, 95% CI: 1.29, 9.93] were positively associated with good iron-rich food consumption among children aged 6–59 months old. Nevertheless, being 24–59 month-old children [AOR = 0.58, 95% CI: 0.44, 0.72], residents of the Afar [AOR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.08, 0.67], Amhara region [AOR = 0.30, 95% CI: 0.14, 0.65], and Somali region [AOR = 0.01, 95% CI: 0.01, 0.07] were negatively associated with good iron-rich food consumption among children aged 6–59 months old. Conclusion: The finding revealed that there was low consumption of iron-rich foods among children aged 6–59 months in Ethiopia compared to reports from East African countries. Improving women’s literacy and economic empowerment would improve iron-rich food consumption among children aged 6–59 months old. This study’s findings would have implications for policymakers in Ethiopia to enhance iron-rich food consumption.