Effects of An Integrated Nutritional Health Intervention on Energy and Protein Intake in Under Five-Year Malnourished Children

Abstract

Malnutrition is thought to be the cause of more than one third of all child deaths, despite being rarely cited as a cause. In Indonesia, 19.9% of the population is malnourished, which is a very high prevalence. To prevent and treat malnutrition in children, numerous strategies have been developed, including an integrated nutritional health intervention. This research aimed to determine the effectiveness of an integrated nutritional health intervention for the energy and protein intake of malnourished children under the age of five. This study had a quasi-experimental design with a pre-and post-test control group. The research took place in Padang City, West Sumatra Province, between August 2020 and February 2021. The study data were collected using a standardized questionnaire at baseline and six months after the intervention, utilizing a sample size of 140 people. The data were evaluated using dependent and independent t-tests between the study’s baseline and end line. The energy and protein intake variables showed a difference, indicating a significant increase in the score from the baseline to the end line (energy intake: difference-in-differences (DID) = 405.53, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 362.01–449.05, p = .000; protein intake: DID = 4.62, 95% CI = 3.79–5.45, p = .000). This study found that the integrated nutritional health intervention increased the energy and protein intake of malnourished children and had a substantial impact on reducing the prevalence of risk factors when adequate protein and energy intake was provided.