Determination of appropriate policy targets to reduce the prevalence of stunting in children under five years of age in urban-poor communities in Indonesia: a secondary data analysis of the 2022 Indonesian national nutritional status survey

Abstract

Objective Based on previous studies, urban-poor societies are very vulnerable to stunted children under five. The study aims to determine the appropriate policy targets to reduce the prevalence of stunted under-five children in urban-poor communities in Indonesia.Design A study was conducted using a secondary data analysis. The study analysed existing data from the 2022 Indonesian National Nutritional Status Survey.Setting and participants At the national level, Indonesia encompassed 43 284 toddlers.Interventions Non-intervention study.Primary and secondary outcomes The study’s eight independent factors were the mother’s age, education, marital status, employment, wealth, antenatal care (ANC), children’s age and sex, with nutritional status as the dependent variable. We employed a binary logistic regression test for the most recent exam.Results Maternal age was related to stunted toddlers in communities of urban poor in Indonesia. The lower the education, the higher the possibility of having stunted kids. Unemployed mothers were 1.153 times more likely than employed mothers to have stunted under-five children (95% CI 1.145 to 1.160). The poorest were 1.235 times more likely to get stunted under-five than the poorer (95% CI 1.227 to 1.242). Mothers without ANC during pregnancy were 1.212 times more likely to get stunted kids than those with ANC during pregnancy (95% CI 1.186 to 1.240). All kids' ages were more probable than 0–11 to be stunted. Boys were 1.099 times more likely to be stunted than girls (AOR 1.099; 95% CI 1.093 to 1.105).Conclusion The appropriate policy targets to reduce the prevalence of stunted under-five children in urban-poor communities in Indonesia were younger mothers, those with poor education, those unemployed, the most impoverished, those without ANC, those with older under-five and those with boy kids.