Social Stratification of Children's Diet and Nutrition: Understanding Women's Situation in Addis Ababa

Background: Childhood undernutrition is the cause of nearly half of all deaths in under-five children. In sub-Saharan African countries, this problem is further complicated by the rising prevalence of overweight. Mothers play a key role in child care and nutrition, however, in cities that are undergoing rapid social and economic changes, little is known about their lived experiences and challenges. Moreover, little is known about the influence of the neighbourhood food environment and family socio-economic conditions of food acquisition and intake in sub-Saharan Africa. Therefore, the study aims to understand the nexus between mothers’ child care and feeding experiences, neighbourhood food environment, diet diversity, and family socioeconomic status. Methods: A mixed qualitative and quantitative study design was used. The qualitative component involved thirty-six in-depth interviews with mothers who had children under the age of five years. A thematic analysis approach was used to analyse verbatim transcripts. For the quantitative component, two rounds of cross-sectional household surveys were conducted. The sample was drawn from all districts of Addis Ababa; a total of 5467 households with mother-child pairs. Data were analysed using a generalised estimating equation (GEE) and mixed-effect logistic regression model. Results: Urban mothers are under pressure to ensure their child gets adequate care and food; the changes in their environment owing to the reconstruction of city and migration further limit their ability to do so. Mothers expressed that their decision of what to feed their children is influenced by children’s preferences, perceived safety of the food, familiarity with the food, and affordability. Children receiving the recommended minimum diet diversity totaled 59.9% (58.5–61.3). Having an adequately diverse diet was associated with having an educated mother, and being from the wealthier and more food-secure households. Animal source and vitamin-A-rich food groups are the least affordable and consumed food groups in the study settings. Families with uneducated mothers, in the lowest wealth group and those who perceived food groups to be unaffordable, consumed a less diverse diet. The prevalence of stunting was 19.6% (18.5–20.6) and that of over-weight/obesity was 11.4% (10.6–12.2). Maternal education level was associated with both forms of malnutrition; children with uneducated mothers were more likely to be stunted (AOR: 1.8; 1.4–2.2) and less likely to be overweight/obese (AOR: 0.61; 0.44–0.84), while being from the highest wealth household and from a severely food insecure household were associated with a higher likelihood of obesity and stunting, respectively. Conclusion: Child nutritional outcomes and diet quality vary by the socioeconomic status of the family; particularly that of mothers. Therefore, efforts to improve diet and nutritional outcomes of children need to consider mechanisms to strongly support mothers