The Affect of Obstretic and Maternal Nutrition History to Criminal Behaviour in Children : A Case- Control Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the relationship between obstetric history and maternal nutrition factors to the incidence of crime in children. Methods: This study was an observational analytic study using a case-control method. The subject of this research is the mother of a child criminal offender in Tangerang Juvenile Detention Center who was recruited using a consecutive sampling method. Sampling was conducted in January 2016 to March 2019. Nutrition history data were obtained using an Indonesian version of the Food Frequency Questionnaire. Results: There were 56 mothers of child offenders who met the study inclusion criteria and 38 subjects as controls. A significant obstetric history of violent crime in children is parity (p = 0.006), place of pregnancy control (p <0.001), birth attendants (p <0.001), and place of delivery (p <0.001). A history of nutritional adequacy that was significant for violent crime was fiber (p = 0.012), folic acid (p = 0.033), vitamin B1 (p = 0.046), vitamin B2 (p = 0.013), vitamin B6 (p <0.001), and vitamin C (p <0.001). Conclusions: Obstetric history and maternal nutrition factors infiuence the incidence of crime in children. Further study about this topic should be done using retrospective cohort method spanning a larger period of time.