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Nutrition Levels...
E-ISSN : 2548-5741
http://dx.doi.org/10.30867/action.v4i2.126 Jurnal AcTion: Aceh Nutrition Journal, Nopember 2019 (4)2: 89-98
EXAMINING THE NUTRITION LEVELS AND STUNTING PROBLEM IN
INDONESIAN CHILDREN
(Kajian status gizi dan permasalahan stunting pada anak balita di Indonesia)
Fitri Yani Arbie1, Rahma Labatjo2*
1
Nutrition Department, Gorontalo Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health, Indonesia. Jln. Taman Pendidikan No.36,
Gorontalo, Indonesia.
E-mail: fitri.y.arbie@gmail.com
2
Nutrition Department, Gorontalo Health Polytechnic of Ministry of Health, Indonesia. Jln. Taman Pendidikan No.36,
Gorontalo, Indonesia.
E-mail: rahma.labatjo@gmail.com
and nutrition levels of children in Indonesia. level of 5 years. The current research is
Indonesian children that are specifically under significant in terms of identifying the concept of
the age of 5 years who face nutritional and stunting and the reasons behind the development
stunting problems are being examined with the of stunting problem in the tender ages.
help of this study.2 Moreover, the current study is helpful in
Since many years, the nutrition-oriented determining the nutrition and the stunting
issues are identified to rise from the diet habits problem among the children below the age of 5
of the children living in developing countries like years. The previous research works are
Indonesia. Significant inadequacies in the specifically carried out on an individual basis
dietary patterns of the individuals comprise of either specifically on the nutritional deficiency
dietary diversity. Dietary diversity involves or the problem of stunting. However, the current
plant-based sources of food. However, there research work is successful in understanding the
exists a limited consumption of vegetables and stunting problem in the light of nutritional
fruits. In support of this, it can be described that inadequacies. The current study encourages the
from the year 1947 to 2002, the quality of diet researchers to identify strategies for reducing
and dietary diversity are identified to malnutrition and stunting among the children
transform.3,4 The trend in the availability of the who are in their developing phases.
dietary energy has also risen in the defined years.
About 7 years ago, in the year 2011, about 26%
of the children were below the age of 5 years and METHODS
were identified to suffer from the problem of Philosophy is regarded as an assistive
stunting.5,6 Therefore, from the previous belief through which the technique to retrieve
research works, it is evident that the nutritional
useful information can be fetched and analysed.
and stunting issues are existent in developing It is associated with the nature, sources and
countries and are required to be mitigated by the formulation of the required beliefs for addressing
application of appropriate strategies. the questions of the research in an efficient
The research is purposed to investigate and manner. Interpretivism and positivism are
examine the levels of nutrition and problems identified as two most essentially utilised
associated with stunting in the children of categories of research philosophy. Interpretivism
Indonesia. The children who are under the age of philosophy is based on the concept of idealism.
5 years are primarily examined in the research It also assists in combine the interests of the
work. Based on this aim, the objectives of the individuals in the research work.7 Different from
study are outlined as defining and analysing the this, positivism philosophy assist in considering
concept of stunting problem as well as the
the perceptions of the external world. These
current nutrition level of Indonesian children; aspects are verified with the aid of numerical,
evaluating the underline reasons for stunting investigational, and observational techniques.
problem among children in Indonesia;
Interpretivism philosophy is applied in the
examining the extent to which the children under research study with the alignment of the outlined
five are suffering from stunting; proposing aim and objectives.
strategies to reduce stunting problem. The reason for applying interpretivism
In accordance with the aim and objectives philosophy is that this philosophy assists in
of the study, the question of this research is obtaining subjective interpretations from the real
framed as, “How the issues like stunting and world regarding the malnutrition levels and
nutrition have affected the growth and stunting problems among the Indonesian
development of the children who are below the children of less than 5 years of age.8
age of 5 years in Indonesia?” Furthermore, interpretivism philosophy also
The research work examines the role of assists in the consolidation of existing
nutrition in the growth of the children and also information for conduction of the in-depth
helps to understand the ill effects of the stunting qualitative analysis for offering justification to
in the children who have not crossed the age
the research question which was not obtained and large information on stunting problem is
through positivism. also retrieved.
Research design assists in the Research approach assists in the selection
formulation of a descriptive framework, which of a logical way to offer a logical rationale for
is in alliance with the distinct research acquiring the relevant data on the research
variables. Choosing an appropriate research subject. The approach in research is categorised
design is essential for the research, as it assists into two main aspects such as the inductive and
in the collection and comprehension of the deductive approach.10 Inductive approach is
broad range of data for appropriately testing applied for the generation of new ideas and
the research question. There are two classes of concepts. However, the deductive approach
research designs that are termed as exploratory offers generalisation to the research outcomes. It
and descriptive. Exploratory design allows allows gathering data from generalised to a
retrieving a clear perception on the developed specific direction with the help of hypothesis.
research problem. Different from this, In terms of this research, inductive
descriptive design assists in extending the approach is applied for the formulation of the
prevalent knowledge by defining the context of unexamined conclusion in accordance with the
the research and filling the identified gaps. 9 In relevant information regarding the stunting
alliance with this qualitative study, descriptive problem and nutrition levels of Indonesian
research design is regarded to be appropriate infants.11 Together with this, the inductive
for appropriate examining the nutrition intake approach is helpful in offering a supportive base
and extent of stunting problem that is faced by to the observational and theoretic studies. A
the Indonesian children, specifically who are detailed insight into the stunting problem of
aged less than 5 years. Correct, real and Indonesian children is also possible with the
organised data is acquired through this design application of this study.
Criteria Description
Time-frame Under this particular criteria, articles which were published mainly in the
previous 10 years had been selected for evaluating the stunting problem among
children of year 0-5 in Indonesia. Further, articles published before 10 years
were excluded because of comprising outdated data.
Keywords For the present paper, only those articles have been included that involves
specific keywords which are stunting problem, nutrition level and urban and
rural families, Indonesia. It is because the articles with these keywords were
supportive towards fulfilling undertaken research purpose.
Studies' Another crucial criteria for selecting articles was the alignment of them with the
Objectives specific research objectives as well as aim. Particularly those articles were
chosen that are appropriate in line with the present research based objectives and
aim, for fulfilling them. The articles which comprised vague data had been
excluded.
Further, the authentic and wider prospects irrelevance, 4 articles have further been
about the causes of stunting and the extent to removed in the final eligibility decision.
which the Indonesian children are suffering Lastly, 6 articles have been approved and
from this problem could be obtained with the selected to get reviewed for present undertaken
support of relevant literature utilised for research.
collecting secondary information for this The method which is helpful in
research. synthesising comprehensive data collected
The criteria of exclusion as well as from varied journals, as well as articles for
inclusion are the crucial aspects for selecting addressing question framed for the research, is
appropriate data sources that are essential for determined under this section. 13 For the present
obtaining research subject relevant paper, meta-analysis has been utilised in order
information. In this research's context, for to analyse or synthesis the data collected from
examining nutrition level as well as the secondary literature sources. It is the rigorous
problem of stunting among the children of method of qualitative information analysis as it
Indonesia, proper criteria of literature sources' facilitates in-depth as well as encompassing
inclusion and exclusion is determined as details regarding the subject undertaken for the
follows. research paper.12 In the utilisation of this
Prisma Chart: This chart represents the particular method, relevant themes have been
total number of records identified in the developed considering the objectives of the
database search results that was 15. After research. On the basis of specifically framed
elimination of records which were duplicated, themes, a proper study has been conducted
the number of remaining records was 12. With with the utilisation of selected research articles
2 articles' exclusion, 10 articles have remained and obtained data findings for reaching logical
after the screening process. Finally, finding and sensible outcomes.
Records screened
(n = 12)
Studies included in
qualitative synthesis
(n = 6)
Studies included in
quantitative synthesis
(meta-analysis)
(n = 6)
Lee (2008)18 Indonesia Multilevel logistic regression models The outcomes of the study describe that community
based families services are responsible for bringing about 20% of
deviation in the stunting levels of the children. The
study reflects that the children residing in the
communities were getting the drinking water from
the water sources like pumps and there was the
unavailability of the sewer. These children are 1,31
are more probable to suffer from stunting than the
children who have better drinking water and
sanitation facilities. The outcomes lay stress over
the significance of clean and hygienic living
conditions. It is suggested that public health
programs should focus on enhancing the access to
purified drinking water and clean sewerage.
Table 3. Theme 1: Analysing concept of stunting problem and present nutrition level
among Indonesia children (0-5 years)
Table 4. Theme 2: Analysing the reasons and the extent of the stunting problem and
malnutrition among the children (0-5 years)
Best et al. “Paternal smoking and The study describes the scenario of The expanse of the study is restricted as
(2008)17 increased risk of child paternal smoking and also describes it is focused on determining the ill-
malnutrition among details regarding the risk of under- effects of paternal smoking on the
families in rural nutrition among Indonesian children children and its role in enhancing
Indonesia” which further result in stunting. stunting problem.
According to Aryastami et al.14 stunting adopted a survey with 222,250 rural families as
refers to the extremely prevalent problem well as 79940 urban families of Indonesia for
among the young children that is concerned assessing nutrition level of up to 5 years
with the high level of mortality as well as children of urban and rural Indonesian families.
morbidity. Stunting among children of year 0-5 The outcomes of the study revealed that 34% of
is observed to be common as a malnutrition rural families' children used to consume
chronic type problem. Stunting is mainly fortified milk as a means of nutrition. Further,
associated with some internal factors such as 42.4% children of urban families used to
maternal health and well-being as well as consume this milk. The outcomes of this study
external factors, for instance, community's reflected if the rural, as well as urban families
socio-economics, feeding practices, nutrition of Indonesia, feed their children with fortified
level and illness. The study adopted the method milk properly in the early age, the problem of
of retrieving data from existing Indonesian stunting is less supposed to be seen among
health survey that was conducted with 3024 them. However, the study lacks in identifying
children of age group 12 to 23 months and the level of breast milk feeding as nutrition for
revealed that the stunting problem's concept is analysing its association with the stunning
directly linked to the level of nutrition, feeding problem. The gap is overcome by another study
practices and birth time weight of the children. by Aryastami et al..14 This study took the
Another cross-section study of support of a recent survey of Indonesian basic
3
Mahmudiono et al. have been carried out in 8 health with approximately 3024 children and
different Indonesian districts that provided provided results that only 19.7% of overall
relation between child stunting as well as Indonesian babies have experienced exclusive
dietary diversity that improper diet and lack of type breastfeeding. Thus, this is another
nutrition such as protein and calcium tend to essential issue related to low nutrition level
increase the possibility of stunting among the resulting in the growth rate of stunting problem
young children of age 0 to 5 years old. The among Indonesian children. Further, the study
study further revealed that stunting is a clear also represented that children born with low
indication that an infant or child is not able to weight are approximately 1.74 times higher
thrive. The problem of stunting is concerned probability of getting stunted as compared to the
directly with diminished brain ability, children who have taken birth with normal
underdeveloped mind, long-lasting noxious expected weight.14
results such as poor learning ability as well as In the perspectives of Semba et al., it can
inadequate performance in school. The study be understood that chronic intake of the low
also explored with supported findings that quality of diet is amongst the major reasons
stunting in childhood further results in chronic behind child stunting. Other reasons for
diseases that are related to nutrition, for stunting problem are high morbidity,
instance, hypertension, diabetes as well as environmental issues, and infectious diseases.
obesity. The findings from the study reflect that the
One of the studies of Semba et al.15 education levels of the parents are highly
determined that due to poor nutrition level, the effective in safeguarding the health and
linear growth of children tends to get hampered nutritional levels of their children in
that is known as stunting problem. The study
comparison to the guardians who are less regions. This study describes that Indonesian
educated.16 children faced about 33.2% of stunting
In contrary to it, the former study by Best problem. The study also reflects that an
et al., has also described that high paternal increment was identified in child stunting with
smoking levels such as the 73.7% are a potential the increment in ages of both the mother and the
determinant of stunting and malnutrition. The child. The NSS programme also described that
findings are gathered from the sample of 438, the level of child stunting relied on the
336 families in Indonesia by means of educational levels of the parents. In the
Indonesian Nutritional Surveillance System developing countries like Indonesia and
(NSS). The study reflects that paternal smoking Bangladesh, the areas where high maternal
is more potential and conformable reason for educational levels were observed the level of
malnutrition and child stunting.17 child stunting was identified to be reduced. 16
Different from this, the study carried out However, in the regions where child
by Semba et al.16, is primarily focussed on stunting was high, the educational levels of the
analysing the impact of the parents’ education parents were identified to reduce. Therefore,
level over stunting in children aged below 5 there exists an interrelationship between the
years. The study incorporates an observational educational levels of the parents and the
method like surveillance programme termed as stunting levels of the children. With the help of
NSS, as an effective tool for gathering this study, it is evident that formal education
information related to growth levels of the levels were identified to exist at a degraded
children, education levels of parents and their level. Educational levels were degraded to 4.4%
socio-economic state. About 590, 570 and 5%.16 In contrast to the studies of Lee in
Indonesian households and 395, 122 2008 and Best et al. in 2008, the study carried
Bangladeshi households were observed during out by Semba et al. (2008) is quite advanced and
the research. However, the observation method has incorporated a comparatively larger sample
was highly time-consuming due to the size. The surveillance programmes incorporated
involvement of an immensely large population. in the study are highly efficient in the
A large number of families provided useful data generation of relative views regarding the state
but a sufficient amount of time was required to of stunting problems in Indonesian children.16,17
accomplish the study.
Therefore, different from the above, the
study of Lee in 2008 applied a survey method
for identifying the reasons for stunting among CONCLUSION
the Indonesian children, aged less than 5 years. It is concluded by analysing the data
The application of a longitudinal survey termed findings that stunting is a common issue among
as Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) the children of year 0-5 years who are
executed in the year 1997 and 2000 was carried malnutrition. The stunting problem has been
out with a sample size of 4,129 children below understood as the failure of children in thriving
the age of 10 years. Statistical analysis was which is resultant of the improper development
incorporated for analysing the obtained data of the brain. The stunting problem develops
with the application of the model named as various symptoms among the children such as
multilevel logistic regression.18 Findings reveal inadequate capabilities of learning, poor mental
that stunting is dependent on the sanitation and and brain abilities as well as harmful results
community water facilities. The study throughout the life of children such as improper
conducted by Semba et al. utilises an growth. In specific to the Indonesian region, the
observational surveillance method, to retrieve problem of stunting has been observed as the
useful information from about 590,570 most prominent among children of 0-5 years age
households in Indonesia. This study is capable group.
of obtaining the proper knowledge regarding It was observed that there are the different
the levels of child stunting in the Indonesian level of nutrition among rural as well as urban