The Characteristics of Pregnant Women in Preventing Anemia and Stunting in Aceh Besar Regency, Indonesia

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This research aims to identify the characteristics of pregnant women to prevent anemia and stunting in Aceh Besar. METHODOLOGY: This research is an exploratory, descriptive study. Health centres were selected using a basic random sampling technique. The sample of this study involved 80 pregnant women in their third trimester, chosen through purposive sampling. A demographic questionnaire was used for data collection, and univariate analysis was applied to analyze the data. RESULTS: The findings showed that the majority of the selected pregnant women in Aceh Besar Regency had the following characteristics: non-risk age 68(85.0%), housewives 72(90.0%), pregnancy interval more than two years 50(62.5%), primiparous 32(40.0%), monthly income less than the minimum wage 68(85.0%), high school graduates 58 (72.5%), normal middle upper arm circumstance 61(76.3%), and not anemic 50(62.5%). CONCLUSION: Stunting can occur due to several characteristics carried by pregnant women, such as age at risk, anemia status, and the normal upper middle arm condition. Therefore, it is recommended that interventions be developed to improve the nutritional status of pregnant women to reduce the prevalence of stunting.