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Introduction: Growth monitoring and promotion services are strategies to promote child health and reduce child mortality. Even though Ethiopia is attempting different strategies to cope with the low rate of GMP utilization, the problem is still unresolved. Objective: Determine the pooled proportion of GMP utilization and its contributing factors among children less than two years in Ethiopia. Method: The review protocol was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42023472746. The PRISMA-2020 statement guided the conduct of this review. Electronic databases and grey literature were used. Heterogeneity was evaluated using I2. Subgroup analysis was conducted. The random effect model was used to summarize the pooled effect sizes with their respective 95% CI with STATA version 17. To test the small study effect, the funnel plot and Egger's test were applied. Result: A total of seven (7) studies with 4027 participants were considered in this meta-analysis. The pooled proportion of GMP utilization reported by seven studies was 25.71% (95%CI: 24.39, 27.04). ANC follow-up (AOR = 2.11; 95% CI: 1.47, 2.76), PNC follow-up (AOR = 1.96; 95% CI: 1.44, 2.49), counseling (AOR = 2.88; 95% CI: 2.09, 3.68), maternal education (AOR = 2.89; 95% CI: 1.66, 4.13), paternal education (AOR = 3.78; 95% CI: 2.25, 5.32), family health card (AOR = 2.31; 95% CI: 1.67, 2.96), and mothers good knowledge towards GMP (AOR = 2.90; 95% CI: 1.72, 4.07) variables were positively associated with GMP service utilization. Conclusion and recommendation: The pooled proportion of GMP remains low in Ethiopia. ANC and PNC follow-up, counseling, maternal and paternal education, family health cards, maternal knowledge towards GMP were significantly associated. Findings are essential for evidence-based policy making, intervention, and input for ongoing research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: More than two-third of global child death is occurred due to inappropriate feeding practice that happened during early childhood period. Evidence on meal frequency status among infant and young children at national level can be used to design appropriate interventions to improve the recommended feeding frequency. Therefore, this study was aimed to explore the spatial distribution and identify associated factors of inadequate meal frequency among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia. Methods: Secondary data analysis was conducted using the 2019 mini Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey data. A total weighted sample of 1,532 children aged 6–23 months were included. To identify significant factors associated with of inadequate meal frequency, multilevel binary logistic regression model was fitted. Variables with p-value < 0.25 from the bi-variable model were exported to multivariable analysis. In the multivariable model, variables with p-value < 0.05 were declared as significantly associated factors and adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with its 95% confidence interval were reported. Multilevel models were compared using deviance and log-likelihood. Spatial analysis tools were utilized to visualize the distribution of inadequate meal frequency. Bernoulli model was fitted using SaTScan V.9.6 to identify most likely clusters and ArcGIS V.10.8 was used to map the hotspot areas. Ordinary least square and geographic weighted regression models were used and compared using information criteria and adjusted-R2. Local coefficients of factors associated with hotspots of inadequate meal frequency were mapped. Results: The prevalence of inadequate meal frequency was 47.03% (95% CI: 44.54%, 49.53%) in Ethiopia. Age of the child, sex of the household head, timely initiation of breastfeeding, current breastfeeding status, number of antenatal care visit, maternal education, and region were significantly associated with inadequate meal frequency. The spatial distribution of inadequate meal frequency was showed significant variation across Ethiopia (Global Moran's I = 0.164, p-value <0.001). A total of 38 significant clusters were detected through SaTScan analysis, from these the 22 primary clusters were located in Somali and Harari. Conclusion and recommendation: The prevalence of inadequate meal frequency was high in Ethiopia and had significant clustering patter. Significant hotspot clusters were located in Somali, northern Afar, Harari, Amhara, Gambela, and eastern South nation nationalities and peoples' region. Therefore, public health interventions which enhance breastfeeding practice, optimal number of antenatal care visits, educational empowerments should target hotspot areas to decrease inadequate meal frequency practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sanitation is the quality of living that is expressed in a clean home, a clean firm, a clean business, and a clean community to prevent disease and promote health. Poor water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) negatively impacts health, development, economic and social growth, and significantly hinders poverty alleviation. This study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practices regarding water, sanitation, and hygiene among holy water users in Amhara regional state Orthodox churches, Ethiopia, in 2024. An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted in April 2023 in five randomly selected Orthodox Tewahido churches in the Amhara region. The study employed an interviewer-administered structured questionnaire to gather data from 423 study participants. The response rate was 91% and 219 (57% of the respondents) were female. Good knowledge, positive attitudes, and good practice on WASH was found in 39.2, 42.5, and 47.2%, respectively. In conclusion, Ethiopian Amhara Orthodox Tewahido churches, holy water users frequently lacked information, had an unfavorable attitude, and practiced poor WASH. This demands for immediate effort to raise knowledge about health education and hygiene in order to impact holy water user’s attitudes toward personal and communal cleanliness and sanitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]