The Effectiveness of Health Education in Improving Perceptions of Community Stunting Prevention

Abstract

Background: Stunting was a type of development failure in toddlers caused by chronic dietary deficits during the first 1,000 days of life (DDL), which had a severe influence on long-term health. The global prevalence of stunting fell from 33% in 2000 to 23% in 2022. In Indonesia, the prevalence of stunting fell from 24,4% in 2021 to 21,6% in 2022, albeit being over the 14% objective. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of health education delivered through lectures in enhancing understanding of stunting prevention. Health education needs to be carried out to prevent stunting because public knowledge in preventing stunting is still low and stunting cases are still high in Gunung Kidul.

Method: The research employed a pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design in Village Cremo and Candi, Tegalrejo, involving 50 families with children aged 0 to 5 years. Comprehensive sampling methodologies were employed. Lectures were utilised for educational purposes, and data were analysed using the Wilcoxon test.

Results: The findings indicated that the predominant age group of respondents (26%) was between 36 and 45 years, and 52% had attained a high school education. Before the intervention, 74% of respondents held negative impressions, which decreased to 52% after the intervention. The Wilcoxon test indicated a significant difference between pre-test and post-test perceptions of stunting prevention (pvalue = 0.003). The mean perception score rose from 78.82 (pre-test) to 82.90 (post-test), demonstrating the efficacy of health education in enhancing comprehension of stunting prevention.

Conclusion: Health education effectively improved community awareness on stunting prevention. To enhance efficacy, it is advisable to integrate the lecture style with audiovisual media and demonstrations. Periodic assessments are essential for optimal outcomes.

Keywords: Stunting; Experimental; Education