Co‐coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health interventions shows wide inequalities and is associated with child nutritional outcomes in Ethiopia (2005–2019)

Abstract The health system is the primary vehicle for the delivery of nutrition‐specific interventions that aim to reduce maternal and child malnutrition. The integration of nutrition interventions into existing health interventions is promising, but to ensure that no one is left behind requires that access to essential health services is equitably distributed. This study aims to assess trends and socioeconomic inequalities in coverage of reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH) and assess its association with child nutritional outcomes in Ethiopia. Using the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey (2005, 2011, 2016, and 2019), we estimated the coverage of RMNCH interventions in Ethiopia using the co‐coverage index, which is a count of the number of interventions accessed. We assessed the trend and inequalities in co‐coverage and evaluated its association with child nutritional outcomes like stunting, wasting, and minimum dietary diversity (MDD). The national co‐coverage index has shown a significant increase over the 2005–2019 period. However, all of the RMNCH interventions constituting the co‐coverage index showed a pro‐rich and pro‐urban distribution (p