Peer-reviewed article
Empowering families and health cadres in stunting prevention through nutrition education and assistance for toddler growth and development
Syaharuddin Syaharuddin, Dewi Nurhanifah, Ari Setiawati, Indrawati Aris, Sylvia Bawiling et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This community empowerment program worked with families of toddlers and community health cadres to help prevent stunting. It offered nutrition education, counselling on balanced diets and complementary feeding, demonstrations of growth measurement, developmental monitoring and individual assistance. Participants' knowledge was tested before and after the education sessions. The authors report better knowledge among families and better capacity among health cadres, and they recommend continued mentoring and regular monitoring.
Key points
- Participants' knowledge of stunting prevention, balanced nutrition, feeding practices and growth monitoring improved.
- Families showed greater awareness of the importance of regular growth and development monitoring.
- Health cadres showed improved capacity to give nutrition education and carry out basic anthropometric monitoring.
- Health cadres were better able to identify children at risk of growth problems and encourage families to use community health services.
- The authors recommend continuous mentoring and regular monitoring to sustain behavioural improvements.
Limitations
The abstract gives no sample size, numerical results, location within Indonesia or follow-up period. It reports knowledge and capacity gains only, not changes in children's growth, stunting rates or actual feeding behaviour.
Abstract
Background: Stunting remains an important public health concern because it can adversely affect children's physical growth, cognitive development, and future quality of life. Family involvement and the active participation of community health cadres are essential for improving nutritional practices and ensuring regular monitoring of toddler growth and development. Objective: This community empowerment program aimed to improve the knowledge and practical capacity of families and health cadres in preventing stunting through nutrition education and assistance in monitoring toddler growth and development. Methods: The program was implemented using a participatory approach involving families with toddlers and community health cadres. Activities included nutrition education, counseling on balanced diets and appropriate complementary feeding, demonstrations of child growth measurement, developmental monitoring, and individualized assistance. Participants' knowledge was assessed before and after the educational sessions using structured questionnaires. Growth monitoring included measurements of body weight and height/length, while developmental assistance emphasized age-appropriate stimulation and early identification of developmental concerns. Results: The program showed an improvement in participants' knowledge regarding stunting prevention, balanced nutrition, appropriate feeding practices, and growth monitoring. Families demonstrated greater awareness of the importance of regular growth and development monitoring and appropriate nutritional practices. Health cadres also showed improved capacity to provide nutrition education, conduct basic anthropometric monitoring, identify children at risk of growth problems, and encourage families to utilize community-based health services regularly. Conclusion: Nutrition education combined with family assistance and strengthened health cadre capacity is a practical community-based strategy for supporting stunting prevention. Continuous mentoring and regular growth and development monitoring are recommended to sustain behavioral improvements and facilitate early detection of nutritional and developmental problems.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Participatory nutrition education, counselling on balanced diets and complementary feeding, growth measurement demonstrations, developmental monitoring and individualised assistance for families and health cadres
- Population
- Families with toddlers and community health cadres in Indonesia
Key finding
Knowledge about stunting prevention, balanced nutrition, feeding practices and growth monitoring improved after the program (no figures given).
Syaharuddin et al. · OpenAlex · 1 Oct 2026