Associated Factors to Stunted Children in Putrajaya

Introduction Stunting, or being too short for one’s age, is defined as a height that is <-2SD in the WHO child growth standards chart. Stunting has long-term effects on individuals and societies, including: diminished cognitive and physical development, reduced productive capacity and poor health, and an increased risk of degenerative diseases. Based on NHMS 2016, Putrajaya, a well-developed city recorded one of the highest prevalence for stunting (24.3%) compared to the other states in Malaysia. This study aims to identify the factors associated with stunting among under five years old children of Putrajaya.

Materials and Methods Case-control study was conducted from October 2018 to January 2019 involving screening and interview phases. SPSS ver. 26 was used for the data cleaning and analysis (cross tabulation and multiple logistic regression).

Results [Refer to Poster].

Discussion / Conclusion IUGR, mid parental height <150cm, low household income, LBW, use of pacifier, mother with low education level, unemployed father, anaemic children, use of bottle feeding, inadequate dietary diversity, and children cared by the babysitter were the factors associated with stunting in Putrajaya. It is important to scale up coverage of stunting prevention activity such as enact policies and/or strengthen interventions to improve maternal nutrition and health beginning with adolescent girls, strengthen community based intervention by including stunting as one of criteria for receiving food basket and increase enforcement on code of ethics for the marketing of infant foods and related products.