Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Comparative Study
. 2009 Oct 6:9:64.
doi: 10.1186/1471-2431-9-64.

Prevalence and risk factors for stunting and severe stunting among under-fives in North Maluku province of Indonesia

Ramli  1 , Kingsley E Agho, Kerry J Inder, Steven J Bowe, Jennifer Jacobs, Michael J Dibley
Affiliations
Comparative Study

Prevalence and risk factors for stunting and severe stunting among under-fives in North Maluku province of Indonesia

Ramli et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

Background: Adequate nutrition is needed to ensure optimum growth and development of infants and young children. Understanding of the risk factors for stunting and severe stunting among children aged less than five years in North Maluku province is important to guide Indonesian government public health planners to develop nutrition programs and interventions in a post conflict area. The purpose of the current study was to assess the prevalence of and the risk factors associated with stunting and severe stunting among children aged less than five years in North Maluku province of Indonesia.

Methods: The health and nutritional status of children aged less than five years was assessed in North Maluku province of Indonesia in 2004 using a cross-sectional multi-stage survey conducted on 750 households from each of the four island groups in North Maluku province. A total of 2168 children aged 0-59 months were used in the analysis.

Results: Prevalence of stunting and severe stunting were 29% (95%CI: 26.0-32.2) and 14.1% (95%CI: 11.7-17.0) for children aged 0-23 months and 38.4% (95%CI: 35.9-41.0) and 18.4% (95%CI: 16.1-20.9) for children aged 0-59 months, respectively. After controlling for potential confounders, multivariate analysis revealed that the risk factors for stunted children were child's age in months, male sex and number of family meals per day (<or=2 times), for children aged 0-23 months, and income (poorest and middle-class family), child's age in months and male sex for children aged 0-59 months. The risk factors for severe stunting in children aged 0-23 months were income (poorest family), male sex and child's age in months and for children aged 0-59 months were income (poorest family), father's occupation (not working), male sex and child's age in months.

Conclusion: Programmes aimed at improving stunting in North Maluku province of Indonesia should focus on children under two years of age, of male sex and from families of low socioeconomic status.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Map of Indonesia showing North Maluku Province. (Source: Wikipedia, 2008)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Sguassero Y, de Onis M, Carroli G. Community-based supplementary feeding for promoting the growth of young children in developing countries (Review) http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab005039.html (assessed 12 Dec., 2008) - PubMed
    1. Bhutta ZA. Why has so little changed in maternal and child health in south Asia? Br Med J. 2000;321:809–812. doi: 10.1136/bmj.321.7264.809. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Atmarita TSF. A summary of the current nutrition situation in Indonesia. Paper presented at Capacity and Leadership Development in Nutritional Sciences, Seoul Korea September 4 - 6, 2008.
    1. Atmarita TSF. Nutrition problem in Indonesia. Paper presented at An Integrated International Seminar and Workshop on Lifestyle - Related Diseases, Gajah Mada University, 19 - 20 March, 2005.
    1. Black RE, Morris SS, Bryce J. Where and why are 10 million children dying every year? Lancet. 2003;361:2226–34. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13779-8. - DOI - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms