Analyzing socioeconomic and regional inequalities in minimum dietary diversity consumption among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia: a decomposed concentration index approach

BackgroundEthiopia faces inadequate minimum dietary diversity (MDD), which significantly contributes to rising death rates and the spread of diseases among children aged 6–23 months. The evidence of socioeconomic and regional inequalities is central to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and it is especially crucial for guiding the development of local, regional, and national policies and initiatives that address these inequalities in MDD consumption. This will help achieve the SDG target of ending all forms of malnutrition. However, there is limited evidence on socioeconomic and regional inequalities in MDD consumption among children in Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the socioeconomic and regional inequalities in MDD among children aged 6–23 months in Ethiopia.MethodsThis study utilized nationally representative weighted data comprising 3,145 samples from the 2019 Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey (EDHS). The concentration index (CIX)was employed to estimate the socioeconomic and regional inequalities in MDD consumption.ResultsThe prevalence of adequate MDD in Ethiopia was 7.11%. The concentration index (CIX) values for MDD by wealth status and region were 0.3 and 0.084, respectively, with a p-value of