DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/jpki.20.1.30-36

Education Role in Stunting Under Two Years among Poor Communities in Indonesia

*Diah Yunitawati orcid scopus  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Agung Dwi Laksono  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Marizka Khairunnisa  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Sidiq Purwoko  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Early Wulandari Muis  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Afi Nursafingi  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Slamet Riyanto  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Mohamad Samsudin  -  Research Center for Public Health and Nutrition, National Research and Innovation Agency, Indonesia
Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 Authors under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.

Citation Format:
Abstract

Background: Indonesia still has a stunting problem, even though the stunting rate has decreased. The study analyses the association of the maternal education level with the incidence of stunted children under the age of two in poor communities in Indonesia.

Method: The cross-sectional data from the Indonesian National Nutritional Status Survey 2021 examined 24,920 children under two years old. The relationship between the variables was tested using binary logistic regression.

Result: The odds of having stunted children below the age of two are 1.705 times greater for women with no education than women with higher levels of education (AOR 1.705; 95% CI 1.667-1.744). Primary-educated mothers were 1.178 times increased risk of having stunted children under age two compared to higher-educated mothers (AOR 1.178; 95% CI 1.157-1.199). The study analysis found no significant difference between secondary and higher education to have stunted children. In addition to education level, the study also identified six other important control variables associated with stunting in children under the age of two: residence location, age of mother, married status, child's age, child's gender, and EIBF. According to the study's findings, stunting in children under the age of two is related to maternal educational levels among Indonesia's poor communities. An increased incidence of stunting in children under the age of two is associated with lower levels of maternal education.

Fulltext View|Download
Keywords: education level; nutrition, public health; stunting

Article Metrics:

Article Info
Section: Research Article
Language : EN
Recent articles
A Comparative Study of Porn Use Behavior in Public and Private Schools, Semarang, Indonesia Education Role in Stunting Under Two Years among Poor Communities in Indonesia A Cross-sectional Study: How is The Relationship Between Social Determinants of Family Dimensions and Stunted Toddlers? More recent articles
Most cited articles
Socio-Cultural And Socio-Sexual Factors Influence The Premarital Sexual Behaviour of Javanese Youth In The Era of HIV/AIDS Beberapa Faktor Yang Berpengaruh Terhadap Keluhan Nyeri Punggung Bawah Pada Penjual Jamu Gendong Perilaku Kepala Keluarga dalam Menggunakan Jamban di Desa Tawiri Kecamatan Teluk Ambon Kota Ambon Pengetahuan Pendidik Sebaya Mempengaruhi Pemberian Informasi KRR di Kabupaten Kulon Progo Personal Dan Sosial Yang Mempengaruhi Sikap Remaja Terhadap Hubungan Seks Pranikah More cited articles
  1. Global Coalition to End Child Poverty. Ending Child Poverty: A Policy Agenda. 2022. 1–54 p
  2. Cooper K, Stewart K. Does household income affect children’s outcomes? A systematic review of the evidence. Child Indic Res. 2021;14(3):981–1005
  3. Soliman A, De Sanctis V, Alaaraj N, Ahmed S, Alyafei F, Hamed N, et al. Early and long-term consequences of nutritional stunting: From childhood to adulthood. Acta Biomed. 2021;92(1):1–12
  4. The World Bank. Spending Better to Reduce Stunting in Indonesia: Findings from a Public Expenditure Review. Washington, DC; 2020
  5. UNICEF. Fed to Fail: The crisis of children’s diets in early life. Unicef. 2021
  6. United Nations Children’s Fund, World Health Organization, International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, The World Bank. Levels and trends in child malnutrition: key findings of the 2018 Edition of the Joint Child Malnutrition Estimates. World Health Organization,. Geneva; 2018
  7. Indonesian Ministry of Health. Buku Saku Hasil Studi Status Gizi Indonesia (SSGI) Tahun 2022. Kemenkes RI. 2022
  8. TNP2K. 100 Kabupaten/Kota Prioritas untuk Intervensi Anak Kerdil (Stunting). Sekretariat Wakil Presiden Republik Indonesia. Jakarta; 2017
  9. Dranesia A, Wanda D, Hayati H. Pressure to eat is the most determinant factor of stunting in children under 5 years of age in Kerinci region, Indonesia. Enferm Clin. 2019;
  10. Beal T, Tumilowicz A, Sutrisna A, Izwardy D, Neufeld LM. A review of child stunting determinants in Indonesia. Matern Child Nutr. 2018;14(4):1–10
  11. Laksono AD, Sukoco NEW, Rachmawati T, Wulandari RD. Factors related to stunting incidence in toddlers with working mothers in Indonesia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(17)
  12. Yani DI, Rahayuwati L, Sari CWM, Komariah M, Fauziah SR. Family household characteristics and stunting: An Update scoping review. Nutrients. 2023;15(1):1–17
  13. Casale D, Espi G, Norris SA. Estimating the pathways through which maternal education affects stunting: Evidence from an urban cohort in South Africa. Public Health Nutr. 2018;21(10):1810–8
  14. Beal T, Le DT, Trinh TH, Burra DD, Huynh T, Duong TT, et al. Child stunting is associated with child, maternal, and environmental factors in Vietnam. Matern Child Nutr [Internet]. 2019 Oct 1;15(4):e12826. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.12826
  15. Rahayuwati L, Komariah M, Hendrawati S, Sari CWM, Yani DI, Setiawan AS, et al. Exploring the relationship between maternal education, parenting practice, and stunting among children under five: Findings from a cross-sectional study in Indonesia. F1000Research. 2023;12:722
  16. Dessie G, Tsegaye GW, Mekonnen BA, Bayih MT, Nigussie ZM. Change in stunting and its associated factors among children aged less than 5 years in Ethiopia using Ethiopia Demographic and Health Survey data from 2005 to 2019: a multivariate decomposition analysis. BMJ Open. 2022;12(11)
  17. Habimana S, Biracyaza E. Risk factors of stunting among children under 5 years of age in the Eastern and Western Provinces Of Rwanda: Analysis of Rwanda Demographic and Health Survey 2014/2015. Pediatr Heal Med Ther. 2019;Volume 10:115–30
  18. Muche A, Dewau R. Severe stunting and its associated factors among children aged 6–59 months in Ethiopia; multilevel ordinal logistic regression model. Ital J Pediatr. 2021;47(1):1–11
  19. Tesfaye A, Egata G. Stunting and associated factors among children aged 6–59 months from productive safety net program beneficiary and non-beneficiary households in Meta District, East Hararghe zone, Eastern Ethiopia: a comparative cross-sectional study. J Heal Popul Nutr [Internet]. 2022;41(1):1–13. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41043-022-00291-0
  20. Takele BA, Gezie LD, Alamneh TS. Pooled prevalence of stunting and associated factors among children aged 6-59 months in Sub-Saharan Africa countries: A Bayesian multilevel approach. PLoS One [Internet]. 2022;17(10 October):1–20. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0275889
  21. Amaha ND, Woldeamanuel BT. Maternal factors associated with moderate and severe stunting in Ethiopian children: analysis of some environmental factors based on 2016 demographic health survey. Nutr J. 2021;20(1):Article number 18
  22. Fadare O, Mavrotas G, Akerele D, Oyeyemi M. Micronutrient-rich food consumption, intra-household food allocation and child stunting in rural Nigeria. Public Health Nutr. 2019;22(3):444–54
  23. Nshimyiryo A, Hedt-Gauthier B, Mutaganzwa C, Kirk CM, Beck K, Ndayisaba A, et al. Risk factors for stunting among children under five years: A cross-sectional population-based study in Rwanda using the 2015 Demographic and Health Survey. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):1–11
  24. Das S, Gulshan J. Different forms of malnutrition among under five children in Bangladesh: A cross sectional study on prevalence and determinants. BMC Nutr [Internet]. 2017;3(1):1–12. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s40795-016-0122-2
  25. Khan S, Zaheer S, Safdar NF. Determinants of stunting, underweight and wasting among children < 5 years of age: Evidence from 2012-2013 Pakistan demographic and health survey. BMC Public Health. 2019;19(1):1–16
  26. Namirembe G, Ghosh S, Ausman LM, Shrestha R, Zaharia S, Bashaasha B, et al. Child stunting starts in utero: Growth trajectories and determinants in Ugandan infants. Matern Child Nutr. 2022;18(3):1–12
  27. Parra DC, Gomez LF, Iannotti L, Haire-Joshu D, Kuhlmann AKS, Brownson RC. Maternal and familial correlates of anthropometric typologies in the nutrition transition of Colombia, 2000–2010. Public Heal Nutr. 2018;21(14):2584–94
  28. Vandeginste S. Governing ethnicity after genocide: ethnic amnesia in Rwanda versus ethnic power-sharing in Burundi. J East African Stud [Internet]. 2014 Apr 3;8(2):263–77. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1080/17531055.2014.891784
  29. Dewana Z, Fikadu T, Facha W, Mekonnen N. Prevalence and Predictors of Stunting among Children of Age between 24 to 59 Months in Butajira Town and Surrounding District, Gurage Zone, Southern Ethiopia. Heal Sci J. 2017;11(4)
  30. Titaley CR, Ariawan I, Hapsari D, Muasyaroh A. Determinants of the stunting of children in Indonesia : A multilevel analysis of the 2013 Indonesia Basic Health Survey. Nutrients. 2013;11:1160
  31. Chowdhury TR, Chakrabarty S, Rakib M, Afrin S, Saltmarsh S, Winn S. Factors associated with stunting and wasting in children under 2 years in Bangladesh. Heliyon [Internet]. 2020;6(9):e04849. Available from: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e04849
  32. Aguayo VM, Nair R, Badgaiyan N, Krishna V. Determinants of stunting and poor linear growth in children under 2 years of age in India: An in-depth analysis of Maharashtra’s comprehensive nutrition survey. Matern Child Nutr. 2016;12:121–40
  33. Mulyaningsih T, Mohanty I, Widyaningsih V, Gebremedhin TA, Miranti R, Wiyono VH. Beyond personal factors: Multilevel determinants of childhood stunting in Indonesia. PLoS One [Internet]. 2021;16(11 November):1–19. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0260265
  34. Mbuya MNN, Humphrey JH. Preventing environmental enteric dysfunction through improved water, sanitation and hygiene: An opportunity for stunting reduction in developing countries. Matern Child Nutr. 2016;12:106–20
  35. Hadi H, Fatimatasari F, Irwanti W, Kusuma C, Alfiana RD, Ischaq Nabil Asshiddiqi M, et al. Exclusive breastfeeding protects young children from stunting in a low‐income population: A studyfrom eastern indonesia. Nutrients. 2021;13(12):1–14
  36. Takahashi K, Ganchimeg T, Ota E, Vogel JP, Souza JP, Laopaiboon M, et al. Prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding and determinants of delayed initiation of breastfeeding: Secondary analysis of the WHO Global Survey. Sci Rep [Internet]. 2017;7(March):1–10. Available from: http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep44868

Last update:

No citation recorded.

Last update: 2025-12-15 05:32:01

No citation recorded.