Paper Title
The Relationships Between Age To Introduce Complementary Foods, Dietary Intakes And Malnutrition Among Children 2-5 Years Old In Indonesia
Abstract
Malnutrition is one of the factors that can affect 2-5 years children�s cognitive and academic ability. The objective of this study was to examine the relationships between dietary intakes, age to introduce complementary foods, and nutritional status among children 2-5 years old in Wulanggitang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 250 mother-child dyads. Data were collected by face-to-face interview with a single 24 hours dietary recall and anthropometric measurements of weight and height. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test. The results of this study revealed that 40.4% of the children had malnutrition. The results of this study also revealed that age to introduce complementary foods (� = 64.34, p < .001), energy (� = 50.24, p < .001), carbohydrate (� = 9.28, p < .01), protein (� = 20.36, p < .001), fat (� = 5.01, p < .05), vitamin A (� = 7.61, p < .01), iron (� = 6.25, p < .05), and zinc intake (� = 5.23, p < .05) were significantly related with malnutrition. Based on these findings, health care providers in rural area of Indonesia should be concerned about malnutrition problems and seek strategies to promote appropriate age to introduce complementary foods and appropriate dietary intakes in children 2-5 years old.
Keywords- Malnutrition, Age to Introduce Complementary Foods, Dietary Intakes, Children 2-5 Years Old, Indonesia.