The Analysis of Risk Factors in Toddlers on The Occurrence of Stunting In Pidie

Abstract

Nutritional issues in toddlers continue to be a primary concern in population settings. Among these issues are stunting, wasting, and overweight (World Health Organization, 2020). Stunting remains a major nutritional problem in developing countries such as Indonesia. Stunting, or chronic malnutrition, is a nutritional issue resulting from prolonged inadequate nutrient intake from food (Andriani et al., 2017). Short stature in toddlers (stunting) is determined by body length or height that is less than -2 SD according to WHO global references for children compared to other children of the same age (World Health Organization, 2013). The global prevalence of stunted toddlers, according to WHO, is 21.9%. According to the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI) by the Ministry of Health, the prevalence of stunted toddlers in this province was 31.2% last year. The highest incidence of stunting in Aceh is in Kota Subulussalam, which had the highest prevalence of stunted toddlers in Aceh in 2022, reaching 47.9%. This number jumped 6.1 points from 41.8% in 2021. Pidie Regency, with 27.8%, ranks fifth highest in Aceh. This study used a cross-sectional design with a sample of 334 toddlers chosen using the Slovin formula. Sampling was conducted randomly among mothers of underweight toddlers in local health center in  Pidie Regency, which has a toddler population of 1,979. Statistical software SPSS 23 with Chi-square was used for data analysis. The findings from this study, derived from bivariate statistical analysis using the Chi-square test at a 95% confidence level, yielded a p-value of 0.268 (p > 0.05). This indicates that the Antenatal Care variable does not affect the risk of stunting. For the immunization variable, the test results showed a p-value of 0.515 (p > 0.05), indicating no relationship between immunization and the risk of stunting. For the exclusive breastfeeding variable, a p-value of 0.038 (p < 0.05) was obtained, indicating that exclusive breastfeeding affects the risk of stunting. The maternal nutrition during pregnancy variable resulted in a p-value of 0.037 (p < 0.05), indicating that maternal nutrition affects the risk of stunting. As for the parenting pattern variable, the test resulted in a p-value of 0.007 (p < 0.05), indicating that parenting patterns greatly influence the risk of stunting.