Relationship between Nutrition Intake and Stunting Incidence among Toddlers in Indonesia

Abstract

Introduction: Improvements nutrition during the first few years of life can lay a strong basis for assisting people, families, and nations to escape poverty, which can be caused by malnutrition.

Objectives: This study was to determine the association between nutrition intake and stunting incidence among toddlers.

Methods: The study was an observational analytical survey with a case-control design. Purposive sampling was used to select 122 respondents for the study, who were divided into two groups consisting of 61 respondents for the case group and 61 respondents for the control group. A 24-hour meal recall questionnaire and a Z-Score calculation method were the instruments utilized to collect the data. The Chi-Square test was used to evaluate the data in univariate and bivariate analysis with a significance level of 0.05.

Results: The results showed that there was a significant relationship between nutrition intake and stunting incidence among toddlers (p<0.001).

Conclusions: It implies that an increase in minimum nutritional intake is adjusted to the nutritional intake needs of toddlers so that stunting does not occur.