Table 4 Associations between ARI and predictor variables among children under five in rural Ethiopia from January 18 to June 27, 2016 (n = 7911)

Age of the child

48–59 months (ref)

1.0

1.0

Less than 6 months

2.278 (1.601–3.240)

1.936 (1.243–3.014)*

6–11 months

3.424 (2.446–4.793)

2.783 (1.806–4.288)*

12–23 months

3.230 (2.386–4.372)

2.470 (1.697–3.597)*

24–35 months

2.334 (1.706–3.194)

1.987 (1.420–2.779)*

36–47 months

1.918 (1.389–2.650)

1.729 (1.238–2.416)*

Wealth index

Rich (ref)

1.0

1.0

Poor

1.975(1.526–2.558)

2.170(1.631–2.887)*

Middle

1.530(1.111–2.108)

1.388(0.992–1.943)

Duration of breastfeeding

Still breastfeeding (ref)

1.0

1.0

Never breast feeding

0.522(0.311–0.874)

0.884(0.507–1.544)

Ever breastfeeding, not currently

0.582 (0.492–0.688)

0.942 (0.724–1.226)

Mothers educational level

Secondary and above (ref)

1.0

1.0

No education

2.933 (1.501–5.731)

2.050 (1.017–4.133)*

Primary

3.182 (1.608–6.295)

2.387 (1.176–4.845)*

Receive vitamin A in last 6 months

Yes (ref)

1.0

1.0

No

1.854 (1.546–2.224)

1.926 (1.578–2.351)*

Had diarrhea recently

Yes (ref)

1.0

1.0

No

0.229 (0.190–0.276)

0.257 (0.210–0.314)*

Mothers currently working

Working (ref)

1.0

1.0

Not working

0.9 (0.747–1.084)

0.773 (0.630–0.948)*

Wasted

Yes (ref)

1.0

1.0

No

0.743 (0.590–0.935)

0.788 (0.614–1.011)

Stunted

Yes (ref)

1.0

1.0

No

0.662 (0.562–0.780)

0.663 (0.552–0.796)*

Type of water source

Improved (ref)

1.0

1.0

Not improved

1.807 (1.491–2.191

1.715 (1.395–2.109)*

Region

Rural Dire Dawa (ref)

1.0

1.0

Rural Tigray

3.530 (1.815–6.863)

3.628 (1.817–7.244)*

Rural Afar

1.844 (0.930–3.653)

1.446 (0.711–2.941)

Rural Amhara

2.619 (1.335–5.137)

2.410 (1.192–4.872)*

Rural Oromia

3.574 (1.863–6.857)

3.516 (1.784–6.928)*

Rural Somali

1.236 (0.620–2.464)

1.132 (0.553–2.317)

Rural Benishangul gumuz

0.603 (0.275–1.325)

0.545 (0.241–1.230)

Rural SNNPR

2.117 (1.084–4.137)

2.377 (1.181–4.784)*

Rural Gambela

0.925 (0.420–2.034)

0.832 (0.367–1.886)

Rural Harari

0.831 (0.353–1.953)

0.805 (0.333–1.944)

Month of data collection

June(ref)

1.0

1.0

January

1.820 (1.001–3.310)

2.125 (1.127–4.010)*

February

1.220 (0.691–2.152)

1.535 (0.841–2.801)

March

0.807 (0.454–1.436)

0.989 (0.538–1.819)

April

0.951 (0.536–1.688)

1.231 (0.670–2.260)

May

1.162 (0.656–2.056)

1.319 (0.720–2.414)

Anemia status

Anemia (ref)

1.0

1.0

Not anemic

0.646 (0.548–0.761)

0.636 (0.532–0.761*