Fathers' involvement in complementary feeding of children in Damot Woyde District, South Ethiopia: a community-based cross-sectional study

In infant and young child feeding practice parents are the primary agents for childcare activities, such as feeding. Mothers' role in infant and young child feeding practice has been the focus of previous research. The involvement of fathers in child-feeding practice has rarely been studied. Thus, this study aimed to assess fathers' involvement in the complementary feeding of children and identify factors associated with it in Southern Ethiopia. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted which included a survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs). The survey was conducted with 593 fathers who have at least one child of age 6-23 months. Four FGDs were conducted with fathers, and 21 in-depth interviews were conducted with fathers, mothers, and community health workers. The survey data were entered into Epi data software version 1.4.4.0 and statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software version 20. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed and statistical significance was considered at p