Abstract:
Background
Most of child mortality and under nutrition in developing world were attributed to suboptimal
childcare and feeding, which needs detailed investigation beyond the proximal factors. This
study was conducted with the aim of assessing associations of women’s autonomy and
men’s involvement with child anthropometric indices in cash crop livelihood areas of South
West Ethiopia.
Methods
Multi-stage stratified sampling was used to select 749 farming households living in three coffee producing sub-districts of Jimma zone, Ethiopia. Domains of women’s Autonomy were
measured by a tool adapted from demographic health survey. A model for determination of
paternal involvement in childcare was employed. Caring practices were assessed through
the WHO Infant and young child feeding practice core indicators. Length and weight measurements were taken in duplicate using standard techniques. Data were analyzed using
SPSS for windows version 21. A multivariable linear regression was used to predict weight
for height Z-scores and length for age Z-scores after adjusting for various factors.
