Minimum Dietary Diversity and Its Determinants Among Women of Childbearing Age in Three Sub-Saharan African and South Asian Countries: Evidence from the Most Recent Nationally Representative Surveys (2022)

Background: Maternal undernutrition remains a life-threatening public health problem. Women of childbearing age's diets are monotonous in several resource-limited countries. The current study investigated the minimum dietary diversity (MDD) of childbearing-age women and its determinants. The findings of this study will assist in the execution of a maternal nutrition program to improve their intake of diversified diets. Materials and Methods: Data from the most recent demographic and health surveys of three countries were used. A total weighted sample of 62,015 women was included in the study. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression was used to determine the factors associated with the outcome variable. Variables with a p value <0.05 and an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) were declared statistically significant. Results: The prevalence of achieving MDD among women of childbearing age was 35.44% (95% CI: [35.06%, 35.82%]). Factors such as women's age (AOR = 0.90; 95% CI: [0.84, 0.97]), educational status (AOR = 2.14; 95% CI: [1.90, 2.40]), current marital status (AOR = 1.15; 95% CI: [1.07, 1.23]), occupation (AOR = 1.39; 95% CI: [1.30, 1.47]), media exposure (AOR = 1.64; 95% CI: [1.51, 1.78]), wealth index (AOR = 2.07; 95% CI: [1.90, 2.24]), distance to health facility (AOR = 1.20; 95% CI: [1.13, 1.28]), nutritional status (AOR = 0.84; 95% CI: [0.77, 0.92]), sex of the household head (AOR = 0.83; [0.78, 0.88]), community poverty level (AOR = 1.24; 95% CI: [1.12, 1.37]), and community literacy level (AOR = 0.76; 95% CI: [0.68, 0.85]) were significantly associated with MDD. Conclusion: The prevalence of achieving MDD among women of childbearing age was relatively low. Therefore, promoting women's education status, improving household economic status, prioritizing women's decisions, disseminating nutrition information through the media, and giving prior attention to younger and nonworking women who reside far from health facilities are strongly recommended.