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This study explores common factors associated with not meeting minimum dietary diversity (MDD) among 27,072 children aged 6–23 months in Eastern and Southern Africa using data from nine Demographic and Health Surveys from 2013 to 2016. MDD was defined as consumption of more than or equals to five of eight food groups including breast milk in the past 24 h. Equity gaps were calculated as the difference in MDD prevalence between the top and bottom wealth quintiles. Logistic regression was conducted to identify common factors for not meeting MDD at the household, maternal and child levels across two or more countries to inform regional policies to improve children's diets. Kenya had the highest MDD wealth equity gap (40.4 pts), and South Africa had the smallest (14.4 pts). Equity gaps for flesh foods or eggs (up to 39.8 pp) were larger than for grain or legumes (up to 20 pp). Common risk factors for not reaching MDD included younger child age (6–11 months) (n = 9 countries), no formal maternal occupation (n = 6), not receiving vitamin‐A supplementation (n = 3), younger maternal age (n = 3), lower maternal education (n = 3), no media (n = 3) or newspaper (n = 3) exposure, lower household wealth quintile (n = 3), use of nonefficient cooking fuel (n = 2), longer time to get to the water source (n = 2), not listening to the radio (n = 2) and higher birth order (n = 2). Priorities for improving MDD in the region include introducing diverse foods at a young age from 6 months with early nutrition counselling, promoting higher maternal education, increasing food purchasing power and ensuring the support of younger mothers. Key messages: Diets of children in Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) lack diversity.A number of common risk factors predict dietary diversity across countries.Risk factors for low dietary diversity include wealth, education and media access.Wide equity gaps were apparent for most food groups in ESA.Interventions addressing affordability and access to diverse diets are needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Insufficient quantity and inadequate quality of foods in early life are key causes of all forms of malnutrition. Identification of nutrient and dietary gaps in the diets of infants and young children is essential to inform policies and programs designed to improve child diets. A Comprehensive Nutrient Gap Assessment was used to assess the public health significance of nutrient gaps during the complementary feeding period and to identify evidence gaps in 6 countries in Eastern and Southern Africa. Important gaps were identified in iron, vitamin A, zinc, and calcium and, to a lesser extent, vitamin B12 and folate. The best whole-food sources of these micronutrients available in part or all of the countries studied include beef liver, chicken liver, small dried fish, beef, and eggs. Investment is needed in many countries to collect data on micronutrient biomarkers and dietary intake. Strategic actions to improve child diets will require engagement and intervention across relevant systems to accelerate progress on improving the diets of infants and young children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on agencies of the 2020 State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World report has estimated that one-quarter of the world's population of billion people cannot afford even the cheapest possible nutrient-adequate diet that meets. Topics include the potentially biased information from multiple sources, and have no commonly agreed-on approach to describe and characterize the affordability of individual foods.