The Correlation between Mother’s Knowledge Levels of Healthy Food with Stunting Cases in Children aged 2-5 Years

Abstract

Introduction: Stunting is a condition of growth
delay among children under five as a result of chronic
malnutrition in their first 1,000 days of life. The prevalence
of stunting in Indonesia is still above 20%. The objective
of this study was to determine the correlation between
mother’s knowledge of healthy food with Stunting case
among children. Methods: The research design used
cross sectional, and sixty nine (69) respondents were
recruited by Proportionate Stratified Random Sampling
technique. Data were collected using questionnaire and
height measurements using microtoice (height measuring
devices), infantometer (body length measuring instrument)
with a z-score table as a reference. This questionnaire
has been tested for its validity and reliability. Data were
analyzed with Spearman Rank test Results: the results of
this study found that mothers with less knowledge were
dominant of having stunting children, mother’s knowledge
about healthy food was closely correlated with the cases
of stunting in children under five (p = 0,000), Discussion:
The conclusion of this study shows, the more healthy food
knowledge mothers have, the smaller case of stunting can
occur. It is expected that the community health centers will
provide health education on nutritious food on a regular
basis to increase the knowledge of mothers and families.