Magnitude of Prelacteal Feeding and Its Associated Factors among Mothers Having Children Less than One Year of Age: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study in Rural Eastern Zone, Tigray, Ethiopia

Table 1

Sociodemographic characteristics among mothers of children aged less than 12 months in rural eastern zone, Tigray, Ethiopia, 2018 (n = 803).

Variable	Alternatives	Frequency (n)	Percentage (%)
Age of mothers (in years)	<20	14	1.7
	20–24	208	25.9
	25–29	180	22.5
	30–34	177	22
	≥35	224	27.9
Religion	Orthodox	798	99.1
	Others	8	0.9
Ethnicity	Tigray	791	98.5
	Amhara	12	1.5
Marital status	Currently married	727	90.5
	Currently unmarried	76	9.5
Educational status of mothers	No formal education	318	39.6
	Primary education	285	35.5
	Secondary education and above	200	24.9
Mothers occupation	Housewife	735	91.5
	Daily laborer	20	2.5
	Farmer	26	3.2
	Others	22	2.8
Fathers education	No formal education	231	31.4
	Primary education	333	45.2
	Secondary education and above	172	23.4
Occupation of fathers	Farmer	490	61
	Daily laborer	150	18.7
	Merchant	47	5.9
	Private organization	26	3.2
	Others	34	11.2
Child age (in months)	<1 month	57	7.1
	1–6 months	476	59.3
	>6 months	270	33.6
Sex of child	Male	455	56.7
	Female	348	43.3
Family size	≤3	417	51.9
	≥4	386	48.1
Childbirth order	1	189	23.5
	2-3	234	29.2
	4–6	289	36
	>6	91	11.3
Childbirth interval	No previous child	189	23.5
	<24 months	89	11.1
	≥24 months	525	65.4