Risk Factors for the Prevalence of Stunting in Young Children and Its Prevention

Abstract

Nearly 9 millions of Indonesian children suffer from stunting, and Indonesia is ranked the 5th in the world for the highest number of short children. Indonesia has made some progress towards achieving the target for stunting, but 30.8% of children under 5 years of age are still affected, which is higher than the average for the Asia region (21.8%). The study was aimed to know the risk factors related to the prevalence of stunting in children under 5 years old. The study used cross-sectional study with sample taking technique employing consecutive sampling. The study was done at the Community Health Center in Cibeber, Cimahi with 116 children under 5 years old. The data were analysed with data analysis using simple regression logistic. The study concluded that the highest risk factor for stunting to happen in children was the maternal knowledge with the OR score of 3,03. Stunting prevalence was affected by the mother's behaviour in parenting the children. Attitudes and knowledge are the factors affecting behaviour, therefore stunting prevention can be done by improving the knowledge of the mother on nutrition and good parenting.