Peer-reviewed article
Qualitative Study of Utilization of Local Food for the Nutritional Needs of Stunted Children in Indonesia
Juliandi Harahap, Tri Niswati Utami, Eliska Eliska, Zulhaida Lubis, Dina Keumala Sari et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This qualitative study explored how communities in Indonesia could use locally available foods to improve nutrition for stunted children. Researchers conducted focus group discussions with 15 people to understand local food availability, processing capabilities, and community expectations. The study found that community ability and expectations are strongly linked, and that the ability to process local foods is tied to ingredient availability, but actual use of local foods is only weakly related to processing ability. The researchers suggest that communities need support in food processing techniques and coordinated nutrition programs using local ingredients.
Key points
- Ability and expectation showed the strongest relationship (co-occurrence 0.76), indicating community hope is closely tied to their capacity
- Ability to process local foods and availability of ingredients are strongly related (co-occurrence 0.58)
- Use of local food ingredients is weakly related to processing ability (co-occurrence 0.16), suggesting a gap between capability and actual practice
- Food diversity consumption depends on availability, utilization practices, and processing skills
- Local food processing assistance and inter-agency collaboration are recommended for stunting interventions
Limitations
This qualitative study with 15 informants explores perceptions and relationships but cannot demonstrate whether actually using local foods reduces stunting in children. The study identifies barriers and opportunities but does not measure nutritional outcomes or test whether the suggested interventions would work.
Abstract
Introduction: Stunting is a national problem in Indonesia due to an imbalance in children's nutritional intake. Diversity in balanced food consumption is one of the efforts to prevent stunting. Objectives: Exploring the potential of various types of food ingredients, utilization, equipment, capabilities, and expectations of the community in utilizing local food to fulfill stunting children's nutrition. Methods: Qualitative studies use a phenomenological approach. Research informants 15 people. Data were collected through Focus Group Discussion activities. ATLAS.Ti22 software is used to analyze data from focus group discussions. Results: It was found that the theme of ability and expectation has the highest co-occurrence value of 0.76, meaning that hope is very strongly related to the ability of the community. The theme of ability and availability of food ingredients has a co-occurrence value of 0.58, meaning that the ability to process local food ingredients is strongly related to the availability of food ingredients. Utilization and ability co-occurrence value of 0.16 means that the use of local food ingredients is weakly related to the ability to process food. Conclusion: Diversity in food consumption is related to food availability, utilization, and ability to process food. Suggestion: local food processing assistance is needed for the stunting target group to increase the community's ability to process local food. Inter-agency collaboration is needed in specific nutrition intervention programs by utilizing local food ingredients.