Parenting pattern of feeding in stunting toddlers at the working area of Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre

Vol 2 (2) 2019, 208-216 | Original Article DOI: 10.22146/jcoemph.47019 Parenting pattern of feeding in stunting Pradnyawati et al. Parenting pattern of feeding in stunting toddlers at the working area of Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre Luh Gede Pradnyawati,* Komang Triyani Kartinawati, Dewa Ayu Putu Ratna Juwita Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Warmadewa University, Denpasar, Indonesia Submitted: 25 June 2019 Revised: 18 November 2019 Accepted: 29 November 2019 ABSTRACT Stunting is a growth disorder that affects the measurements of length-for-age or height-for-age, which is characterized by a body condition that tends to be short. Children under five are categorized as short-bodied if the z-score is less than -2 standard deviation. In Indonesia, approximately 29% of children under five are included in the short-bodied category. A good nutritional intake at this time is a depiction of proper growth and development in the future. The health status of infants is related to parenting patterns of feeding. This study aimed to find out the description of parenting patterns of feeding in stunting toddlers in the working area of Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre. The study belongs to qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. The sample of this study was 5 mothers who had stunting toddlers. Data were collected by applying a purposive sampling technique. Data that had been collected consists of two types, i.e., primary data and secondary data. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis techniques. Some respondents had fed their toddlers with exclusive breastfeeding until they were 6 months old, but the frequency of feeding was ruled out. In addition, most respondents had only started to feed their babies with complementary food for breastfeeding at the time they were 6 months old. Still, they had not paid attention to their nutritional needs, the precise frequency of feeding, the kinds of better food for toddlers, and appropriate food variations. These results indicate that the wrong parenting pattern of feeding in children under five has the potential to cause stunting. Therefore, more attention to this matter is necessarily needed to reduce the severe incidence of stunting. KEYWORDS children under five years; parenting pattern of feeding, stunting 1. Introduction Indonesia is included in 17 of 117 countries that have three nutritional problems in children under five, namely stunting, wasting, and overweight.1 The problem concerning growth disorders such as short (stunting) in toddlers in Indonesia is still alarming. Stunting is a growth disorder characterized by a body condition that is short to beyond the deficit -2 standard deviation (SD) below the median height with the measurement of height-for-age.2 of stunting, a region is considered to have a mild stunting problem if the prevalence is between 20% to 29%, moderate if 30% to 39% and severe if more than or equal to 40 %.3 In terms of gender, most male toddlers experience stunting (35.7%) compared to female toddlers (31.6%). Judging by region/territory, children who experience stunting are more commonly found in rural areas (36.9%) than in urban areas (30.9%).3 Based on a 2006 World Bank report on the Nadiyah’s study (2014) regarding the big problem Based on the results of the Basic Health Research of Bali Province in 2013, the prevalence *Corresponding author: Luh Gede Pradnyawati Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Warmadewa University, Jl. Terompong 24 Tanjung Bungkak, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia E-mail: 208 Volume 2(2) Desember 2019, Journal of Community Empowerment for Health Pradnyawati et al. Parenting pattern of feeding in stunting of stunting in Bali in 2013 was 32.6%, with the most cases occurring in Gianyar Regency with a prevalence of 41%.4 Based on data that was obtained from Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre in January 2018, it was stated that in the Tegallalang I area, there were 28 cases of stunting in children under five, especially in the working area of the Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre. Meanwhile, data from the Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre in April 2019 revealed that there were 46 cases of stunting in the working area of the Tegallalang I Primary Health Centre. Uncreative and unvaried parenting feeding to toddlers is an important thing that needs to be considered by every mother so that their children’s nutritional needs are met.5 Based on the above description, this study examines the parenting feeding in stunting toddlers in the working area of the Primary Health Centre of Tegallalang I. 2. Methods This study used a qualitative design with a phenomenological approach. The sample in this study were mothers who had stunting toddlers in the working area of Tegallalang Primary Health Centre I. The inclusion criteria to choose the sample of this study were: (1) the mothers who have stunting indicated toddlers (parameters having a z-score limit of less than -2 SD), (2) lived at the place of research conducted, and (3) willing to sign the informed consent. Meanwhile, the exclusion criteria were the mothers who had toddlers who did not indicate stunting, were not in the place at the time the study was conducted and were not willing to sign the informed consent. The sample of this study amounted to five mothers who had children with stunting who were selected by using a purposive sampling technique. The interview was the instrument used to collect the data. The interview activities were stopped at the time the information needed was considered to have been completely met or until the results obtained are saturated and have reached data saturation through an in-depth interview. Data were analyzed thematically with a model of qualitative-verification analysis. After the data were collected, then they were classified to be able to draw a conclusion that refers to the theory and source of the literature based on the theme discovered. 3. Results The subjects of this study came from different family backgrounds. Most of them already have jobs, some work as restaurant staff, administrative staff, and Village Credit Institutions (LPD) employees and as laborers. That was only one out of the five research subjects who are unemployed. In terms of education level, three study participants had the latest education in junior high school (SMP) and below, and two other participants had the last education of senior high school/vocational school (SMA/SMK) and above (Table 1). Based on the results of in-depth interviews regarding exclusive breastfeeding, it was found that most respondents only gave exclusive breast milk to their babies before the age of 6 months. Some gave exclusive breast milk to their babies until the babies aged one year, two years old, even Table 1. Subject characteristics Subject KSD DMIJ GASA NWK WW Age 28 years old 26 years old 24 years old 29 years old 28 years old Education Juni (...truncated)