Household Food Expenditure and Stunting of Children under Five Years Old in Food Secure Area

Background: Indonesia retains a high stunting prevalence which varies between regions. The government preliminarily has specific and sensitive nutrition programs. However, few studies have investigated the prevalence of stunting in food-secure areas and its association with the nutrition program. Therefore, the current research aims to analyze the prevalence of stunting and its relationship with socioeconomic factors and nutritional intervention programs received by children or their families in food-secure areas. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 140 children under five and their parents/ caregivers. Chi-square and logistic regression were applied to examine the correlation of stunting prevalence with other variables. Results: The prevalence of stunting was 38.6%. The factors that were significantly correlated with stunting prevalence were maternal education level (P=0.01), household food expenditure in the animal-based foods group (P=0.009), ready-to-eat foods (P=0.002), total food expenditure (P=0.003), and information from health workers about the use of iodized salt (P=0.033). Conclusions: High stunting prevalence is present in food-secure areas. Therefore, increasing maternal education and improving household food access, particularly for animal protein and ready-to-eat food, can be potential strategies to reduce stunting problems in food-secure areas.