Table 1.

Frequency and percentage distribution of sociodemographic characteristics of mother with children aged 6–24 months in Dessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia, 2019 (n = 275).

Variables	Category	Frequency (n = 275)	Percentage (100%)
Age of mother in years	15–19	3	1
	20–24	58	21
	25–29	129	47
	≥30	85	31
Religion	Orthodox	132	48
	Muslim	125	45.4
	Protestant	9	3.3
	Others	9	3.3
Educational status of mother	Illiterate	75	27.2
	Read and write	45	16.4
	Grade 1–8	40	14.5
	Grade 9–12	59	21.5
	College and above	56	20.4
Occupation of mother	Housewife	130	47.3
	Government employed	54	19.6
	Private organization employed	10	3.6
	Merchant	54	20.4
	Daily laborer	9	3.3
	Others	16	5.8
Ethnicity	Amhara	242	88
	Oromo	14	5.1
	Tigre	11	4
	Afar	8	2.9
Marital status	Single	3	98.1
	Married	270	1.1
	Divorced	1	0.4
	Widowed	1	0.4
If married, educational status of husband	Illiterate	62	22.9
	Read and write	36	13.3
	Grade 1–8	32	12.2
	Grade 9–12	64	23.6
	College and above	76	28
Occupational status of husband	Government employed	74	27.2
	Private organization employed	30	11.1
	Merchant	52	19.2
	Daily laborer	57	21
	Farmer	53	20
	Others	4	1.5
	I do not know	11	4
Family size including the current child	1–3	132	48
	4–6	134	48.7
	7–10	9	3.3
Persons who live with mother in addition to husband and children	Mother's father/mother/sister/brother/relative	20	7.3
	Husband's father/mother/brother/sister/relatives	25	9.1
	Others	230	83.6
Wealth index	Poor	81	29.5
	Middle	120	43.6
	Rich	74	26.9
Age of the child in months	6–10	136	50.2
	11–15	90	31.9
	16–19	34	12.4
	20–24	15	5.5
Sex of the child	Male	146	53.1
	Female	129	46.9