Research Article Timely Initiation of Complementary Feeding and Associated FactorsamongMothersofChildrenAged6–24MonthsinDessie Referral Hospital, Northeast Ethiopia, 2019 Atsedemariam Andualem , 1 Afework Edmealem, 1 Belachew Tegegne , 1 Lehulu Tilahun, 2 andYitayishDamtie 3 1 Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia 2 Department of Emergency and Ophthalmic Health, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia 3 Department of Reproductive Health, School of Public Health, Wollo University, Dessie, Ethiopia CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoAtsedemariamAndualem;atsede010@gmail.com Received 4 January 2020; Revised 23 July 2020; Accepted 20 October 2020; Published 29 October 2020 AcademicEditor:C.S.Johnston Copyright © 2020 Atsedemariam Andualem et al. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons AttributionLicense,whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalworkis properly cited. Background.Timely,appropriate,safe,adequate,andfrequentfeedingisessentialduringthetransitionperiodforoptimalgrowth and development as well as vulnerability of the child. e age of initiation of complementary feeding needs to be strongly addressed.us,theaimofthisstudywastodeterminetimelyinitiationofcomplementaryfeedingandassociatedfactorsamong mothers of children aged 6–24 months in Dessie Referral Hospital. Methods. Institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 280 mothers of children aged 6–24 months. A systematic random sampling technique was employed for selectionofstudyparticipantsbyconsideringthe1stcomerasastartingpointandthenatevery5thintervaltillthesamplesizewas saturatedatexittime.Datawerecollectedusingpretestedandvalidatedstructuredinterviewer-administeredquestionnaire.Data were entered to Epi data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS version 20.0 software for analysis. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression model were used. Results. Overall response rate was 98.2%. Among 275 mothers with children aged 6–24months, 36 (13.1%), 179 (65.1%), and 60 (21.8%) mothers started giving complementary feeding for their children early (beforesixmonths),timely(atsixmonths),andlate(aftersixmonths),respectively.Mothers’educationalstatusofgrade9–12and college and above [AOR � 3.03; 95% CI (1.13–8.14), and AOR � 3.74; 95% CI (1.19–11.70), respectively], getting counsel [AOR � 2.83; 95% CI (1.54–5.21)], and poor knowledge [AOR � 0.37; 95% CI (0.19–0.72)] were found to be independent predictors. Conclusions. Prevalence of timely initiation of complementary feeding was high as compared to the national prevalence. Mothers’ educational status, getting counsel about complementary feeding, and knowledge were factors associated withtimelyinitiationofcomplementaryfeeding.erefore,awarenesscreation,counseling,andhealtheducationshouldbedone on society by concerned bodies to improve timely introduction of complementary feeding level more than this result. 1.Introduction Complementaryfeedingistheprocessofstartingfoodsand liquidsalongwithbreastmilkwhenbreastmilkisnolonger sufficient to meet nutritional requirements of children [1]. Appropriate, safe, adequately nourished, and frequent feedingisessentialduringthetransitionperiodfromchild’s birthto2yearsofagesincethisperiodisacriticalwindow foroptimalgrowthanddevelopmentaswellasvulnerability of the child [2]. e World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that complementary feeding should be com- menced at the age of 6 months, and the frequency of nonmilkfeedingshouldgraduallyincreaseuntil24months. But most mothers do not start complementary feeding at appropriate time [3–6]. Children are at increased risk of malnutrition starting from six months because breast milk aloneisnotsufficienttogivetherequirednutrientcontents [7]. Hindawi Journal of Nutrition and Metabolism Volume 2020, Article ID 6756202, 7 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/6756202