Peer-reviewed article
The Difference in Protein and Zinc Intake in Stunted and Non-Stunted Toddlers in Dawarblandong District, Mojokerto
Rizqy Abidah Ramdlaniyah, Choirul Anna Nur Afifah ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study compared protein and zinc intake between 27 stunted and 27 non-stunted toddlers in Indonesia, using dietary recall interviews over three days. The results showed stunted toddlers consumed significantly less protein and zinc than non-stunted toddlers. The difference was linked to eating patterns: stunted toddlers ate more plant-based foods while non-stunted toddlers ate a mix of plant and animal sources. The study suggests parenting styles influence these patterns, with mothers of non-stunted children being more knowledgeable about nutrition and more active in guiding their children's food choices.
Key points
- Stunted toddlers had significantly lower protein intake (p=0.014) compared to non-stunted toddlers
- Stunted toddlers had significantly lower zinc intake (p=0.020) compared to non-stunted toddlers
- Stunted toddlers consumed predominantly plant-based foods while non-stunted toddlers consumed mixed plant and animal-based foods
- Mothers of non-stunted toddlers demonstrated better knowledge of nutrient-rich foods and more active parenting in controlling eating patterns
- Mothers of stunted toddlers allowed children to freely choose foods with lower nutritional value
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional case-control study that cannot establish causal relationships between nutrient intake and stunting. The study measured intake through 24-hour food recall over three days, which may not fully represent typical long-term dietary patterns, and relies on maternal reporting which is subject to recall bias.
Abstract
Stunting is a health problem caused by several factors, one of which is a lack of nutrition in the long term. The nutrients that have been linked to influencing the incidence of stunting are protein and zinc. Protein is a macronutrient containing essential amino acids that are useful for growth, cell turnover, and maintenance of the body. Zinc is also useful for growth because zinc plays a role in the metabolism of Growth Hormone (GH). This study aims to determine differences in protein and zinc intake in stunted and non-stunted toddlers in Dawarblandong District, Mojokerto Regency. The type of research used is quantitative with an observational method and a case-control research design. The total sample was 54 toddlers consisting of 27 stunted toddlers and 27 non-stunted toddlers who were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Protein and zinc intake of toddlers were taken through 24-hour food recall interviews for three days and then the data were analyzed using the Wilcoxon Rank Sum Test. The results showed that there was a significant difference in protein intake (p value 0.014) and zinc intake (p value 0.020) between stunted and non-stunted toddlers. This difference in intake is thought to be influenced by differences in toddler eating patterns. Stunted toddlers consume more plant-sourced foodstuffs than animal-based ones, while non-stunted toddlers consume a combination of foods from plant and animal sources in a day's meal so that the nutrients they get are better. This difference in eating patterns is associated with differences in the parenting style of each toddler where mothers of non-stunted toddlers understand more about intakes that are rich in nutrients that are useful for children's bodies and are more patient in controlling children's eating patterns. Meanwhile, the parenting style of stunted toddler mothers frees the child to choose whatever food the child likes even though the food has less nutritional value.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Observational comparison of protein and zinc intake levels between stunted and non-stunted toddler groups to identify nutritional differences
- Population
- 54 toddlers in Dawarblandong District, Mojokerto Regency, Indonesia: 27 stunted and 27 non-stunted
Key finding
Stunted toddlers had significantly lower protein intake than non-stunted toddlers (p=0.014)