Peer-reviewed article
Red Ginger Gummy Candy as a Stunting Prevention Strategy in Children Under Five
Heni Heryani, Lusi Lestari, Anna Yusuf, Davit Nugraha, Siti Rahmah Kurnia Ramdan ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-sonnet-5-5This study tested whether a gummy candy made with red ginger extract could support growth in children under five and help prevent stunting. Children in an intervention group received the candy and a control group received a placebo for one month. Height rose significantly within the intervention group, but the change was not significantly different from the control group. Weight changes were not significant in either group. The authors say larger and longer studies are needed.
Key points
- The study used a quasi-experimental design with an intervention group and a placebo control group over one month.
- In the intervention group, height increased significantly after the intervention (p=0.005).
- Change in body weight in the intervention group was not significant (p=0.161).
- In the control group, neither weight (p=0.138) nor height (p=0.059) changed significantly.
- Between-group differences were not significant for weight change (p=0.970) or height change (p=0.701).
Limitations
The abstract gives no sample size, child ages, location within Indonesia or dose, and the intervention lasted only one month. It does not show that the candy improved growth more than placebo, so it cannot tell us whether it prevents stunting.
Abstract
Introduction: Stunting is a major public health problem that affects the growth and development of children under five. Functional foods in child-friendly forms may provide an alternative nutritional approach to support linear growth and stunting prevention. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the potential of red ginger extract gummy candy as a functional food to support linear growth and stunting prevention among children under five. Method: This quasi-experimental study used intervention and control groups. Children in the intervention group received red ginger extract gummy candy, while those in the control group received a placebo for one month. Changes in height and weight were assessed before and after the intervention. Result: The Shapiro–Wilk test showed that the anthropometric data were not normally distributed (p<0.05). In the intervention group, height increased significantly after the intervention (p=0.005), whereas the change in body weight was not statistically significant (p=0.161). In the control group, neither body weight (p=0.138) nor height (p=0.059) showed statistically significant changes. However, the Mann–Whitney U test showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in changes in body weight (p=0.970) or height (p=0.701).. Conslusion: Red ginger gummy candy was associated with a significant increase in height within the intervention group, but the change was not significantly different from the control group. Further studies with larger samples and longer interventions are needed to determine its potential in supporting linear growth.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Red ginger extract gummy candy given as a functional food for one month, compared with a placebo
- Population
- Children under five years old in Indonesia
Key finding
Height increased significantly within the intervention group (p=0.005).
Heryani et al. · OpenAlex · 30 Sept 2026