The impact of stunting – Children’s growth is not only seen from their weight, but also from their height. This is because the child’s height itself is a factor that marks stunting and is a marker of whether the child’s nutrition has been fulfilled or not.
Then, what is stunting and what are the effects of stunting and the factors that cause it? Check out the full explanation below!
What is Stunting?
Stunting is a condition characterized when a child’s height is less than children of his age. Simply put, stunting is a condition in which a child experiences growth disturbances which then causes his body to become shorter compared to his peers with the main cause of malnutrition.
Many do not know that short children are a sign of chronic nutritional problems in their body growth. It’s just that you need to know that short children are not necessarily stunted, while stunted children definitely look short. Children who fall into the stunting category themselves are when their length or height shows a number below -2 standard deviations (SD).
What’s more, if this condition is then experienced by children who are under the age of 2 years and must be treated immediately and appropriately. Assessment of nutritional status with this standard deviation itself usually uses the child growth chart (GPA) from WHO.
Short stature in children who are below normal standards is then the result of malnutrition that has been going on for a long time. This in itself then makes the child’s height growth stunted so that then causes him to be classified as stunting.
However, children with short stature do not necessarily experience the effects of stunting. This condition itself only occurs when a child’s daily nutritional intake is lacking, which then affects the development of his height.
What are the causes and stunting in children?
This health problem itself is the result of various factors that occurred in the past. These factors include poor nutritional intake, repeated infections, babies born prematurely, and low birth weight (LBW).
The condition of insufficient nutritional intake itself generally does not only occur after the baby is born, but if it starts when he is still in the womb. Below are a number of points that are factors that cause stunting in children.
Lack of Nutritional Intake During Pregnancy
WHO or the world health agency then stated that around 20% of stunting incidents had occurred while the baby was still in the womb. This itself is caused by the mother’s intake during pregnancy which is less nutritious and of good quality so that the nutrition that the fetus receives then tends to be small.
Finally, growth in the womb then begins to be stunted and continues after birth. Therefore, it is important to get enough of various important nutrients during pregnancy.
Children’s Nutritional Needs Are Inadequate
In addition, this condition can also occur due to insufficient food for toddlers under the age of 2 years, such as improper breastfeeding position, not being given exclusive breastfeeding, to low quality MPASI (complementary food for ASI).
Many theories state that lack of food intake can also be one of the main factors causing stunting. Especially the intake of foods that contain protein and the mineral zinc (zinc) and iron when the child is still under five.
Launching the Children’s and Adolescent Nutrition book, this event then generally begins to develop when the child is 3 months old. This development process itself gradually begins to slow down when the child is 3 years old.
After that, the height assessment chart based on age (TB/U) continues to move following the standard curve but in a downward position. There is a slight difference in the stunting conditions experienced by the 2-3 year old age group and children over 3 years of age. In children under 2 – 3 years old, the low measurement of the height-for-age (TB/A) chart then illustrates the ongoing stunting process. Meanwhile, in children older than that, this condition then indicates that the child’s growth failure has indeed occurred (stunted) .
Not Doing Postpartum Care
After the baby is born, the mother and baby should then receive postnatal care. It is also highly recommended for babies to immediately receive breast milk so that they can strengthen their immune system. Postpartum care is also considered necessary to detect problems that may be experienced by the mother and child after delivery.
Mental Disorders and Hypertension in Mothers
Ineffective parenting also later becomes one of the causes of stunting in children. This parenting style is also related to the behavior and practice of feeding children. If parents do not provide good nutrition, then the child will experience stunting. In addition, the factor of the mother who was a teenager and during her pregnancy lacked nutrition and a poor lactation period will then affect the child’s growth and brain.
Sanitary Factor
Poor sanitation and limited access to clean water will also increase the risk of stunting in children. If a child grows up in an environment with inadequate sanitation and water conditions, this will affect their growth. Low access to health services is also one of the factors that causes stunting.
Other Causative Factors
In addition to those mentioned above, there are several other factors that cause stunting in children, including the lack of maternal knowledge regarding nutrition before pregnancy, during pregnancy, and after childbirth. Other factors are limited access to health services, including prenatal and postnatal (after delivery) services, lack of access to clean water and sanitation and lack of access to nutritious food because it is relatively expensive. To prevent this, pregnant women need to avoid some of the factors above.
Characteristics of Stunting in Children
It should be understood that not all toddlers with short stature automatically experience stunting. This health problem itself is a very short body condition when viewed from the standard for measuring height according to age from WHO.
According to the Indonesian Ministry of Health, toddlers can also know the impact of stunting if their length or height has been measured, then when compared with the standard, and the results of these measurements are in the below normal range. A child is then included in stunting or not, depending on the results of these measurements.
So it can’t just be estimated or guessed without measurement. In addition to the short stature of children of his age, there are also other characteristics, namely:
- Slow body growth
- His face looks younger than his age
- Delayed growth of teeth
- Poor performance on focus ability as well as on learning memory
- At the age of 8-10 years, children then become more withdrawn, don’t make much eye contact with the people around them
- The toddler’s weight also does not increase and even continues to tend to decrease.
- The development of the child’s body is hampered, such as late menarche (first menstruation in girls).
- Children are susceptible to various infectious diseases.
- Meanwhile, to find out whether a child’s height is normal or not, you must regularly check it with the nearest health service.
- You can also take your little one to the doctor, midwife, posyandu, or health center every month.
How to prevent stunting?
Realizing that stunting is a high-risk health problem and can affect the growth of children to adulthood, you also need to be familiar with various prevention efforts. Check out some of the preventive actions that can then be taken to prevent stunting. These precautions should be taken before, during and after pregnancy.
Understand Nutrition Concept
Make sure you get enough nutrition every day, especially during pregnancy. Also understand the concept of nutrition properly and apply it in parenting patterns.
Various Menu Options
Also try to always provide a varied food menu for children. Don’t forget the nutritional factors and the nutritional factors they need every day. During pregnancy and after, mothers also need to get good and balanced nutrition in order to avoid stunting problems.
Routine Checkup
During the pregnancy period, mothers need to do check-ups or carry out routine checks to then ensure that the weight is appropriate for gestational age. Pregnant women also should not experience anemia or lack of blood because then it will affect the fetus in the womb. This blood pressure control can then be carried out during routine check-ups .
The importance of breast milk
Mother’s milk (ASI) then contains a lot of good nutrition that will support the growth of children. In breast milk, there are substances that can build a child’s immune system so that they can keep them away from various health problems, one of which is stunting.
Improve Cleanliness
Recurrent infectious diseases in children are then caused by the body’s immune system not working optimally. When a child’s immune system is not functioning properly, the risk of various types of health problems, including stunting, is higher. Because stunting is a disease that is prone to attack children, it’s a good idea to always ensure that your child’s immunity is maintained so you can avoid infection.
Sanitary Factor
Sanitation factors and access to clean water are one of the focuses that you can do to prevent stunting in children. Also keep yourself and your environment clean so that there are no bacteria, fungi, germs, and viruses that contaminate your body and that of your little one. You are also advised to always pay attention to the cleanliness of your body and hands. This is because if hands are dirty, it is not impossible for germs to infect food, which then enters the body, causing malnutrition. In the long term, prolonged malnutrition will also lead to stunting.
Stunting Impact
Stunting as a disease caused by chronic malnutrition in the early days of a child’s life. The risks from the effects of stunting itself must be watched out for because they affect the growth and development of children directly, now or in the long term.
Children who grow up then suffer from stunting problems which will experience brain development disorders. The effect will also be seen in the cognitive abilities of your little one. They also tend to have difficulty remembering and solving problems, as well as getting stuck in activities that involve mental or brain activity.
Slow cognitive growth in the future will cause children to experience a decrease in intellectual function, difficulties in processing information, and difficulty communicating. This also certainly affects the learning process of children at school and at home, as well as difficulties for them to get along and play with their peers.
The development of a child’s body will also automatically be slower when compared to children of his age. Short stature is one of the common characteristics of children with stunting problems.
Chronic malnutrition will also inhibit muscle growth. Stunted children also seem to tire more easily and are not as agile as children in general. The impact itself has a large risk of obesity and difficulty doing basic daily activities.
If your baby has problems due to stunting, the immune system itself is somewhat more vulnerable. Children are then susceptible to infectious diseases caused by various bacteria or viruses. Because their immune system is also low, the process of healing stunted children then takes longer compared to children in general.
The condition of stunting itself is not only felt as a child, but its impact will continue to be felt into adulthood. The results of the Paediatrics and International Child Health research then stated that children who experience the effects of stunting increase the risk of developing diabetes as adults.
This is because malnutrition during infancy will then disrupt the insulin and glucagon hormonal systems in the pancreas which then regulate the balance and metabolism of glucose.
As a result, among others, the balance of blood sugar will be disrupted more quickly and it will be easier for the body to form fat tissue when children reach adulthood. Children affected by stunting are also at higher risk of suffering from various degenerative diseases, such as cancer, diabetes and obesity.
This is partly because the needs for micro and macro nutrients in the body are not optimally fulfilled so that the formation of body cell functions and others is not perfect. Parents can also provide complementary nutritional milk for children, such as Nutren Junior with 50% whey protein which is high in cysteine and essential amino acids.
Nutren Junior also has various benefits of omega 3, 6 and DHA to be able to support children’s brain development. Nutren Junior can also be given to children aged 1-10 years to meet various daily nutritional needs.
Stunting can then be prevented by maintaining the cleanliness of the living environment and adopting a healthy lifestyle. Parents are also advised to periodically check their children to the doctor. Let’s prevent stunting in children from an early age for their good in the future. The role of parents as the main key for children is to get the best nutrition and to grow according to their maximum potential.
Related Books
Prevent Stunting with a Family Approach
The Community Nursing Management Book ” Preventing Stunting with a Family Approach ” is deliberately presented by the author with the aim of being able to provide an overview of the roles that can be taken by public health nursing staff, bearing in mind that public health nursing staff is one of the frontline professions in the field, including efforts to prevent stunting. .
Furthermore, it is hoped that this book will be able to develop readers’ knowledge and understanding of the description and conditions of the community health nursing platform, from the concept of community nursing, government policies, to the application of the role of public health nurses in an effort to prevent stunting in the community.
The Book on Community Nursing Management ” Preventing Stunting with a Family Approach ” consists of (six) Chapters which contain systematics of Community Field Science based on the mindset, knowledge, and experience of researchers, which consists of several discussion chapters.
Chapter 1 Concept of Community Health Nursing, Chapter 2 Public Health Program Management Policy, Chapter 3 Family Approach in Achieving Health Development Priorities, Chapter 4 Family as the Focus of Community Health Nursing Intervention Bob 5 Stunting bob 6 Strengthening the Role of Public Health Centers in Stunting Prevention Efforts.
This book on Community Nursing Management ” Preventing Stunting with a Family Approach ” is accompanied by related articles or journals so that the contents of this book are based on the latest evidence-based .
Prevent stunting before it’s critical
Stunting is a child health problem in Indonesia. Not only are they shorter than their age, but stunted children also experience stunted brain development.
In the end, they are less likely to be able to catch up with their school studies, which has an impact on their future and the next generation. As prospective parents and agents of change , adolescents have a crucial role in stunting prevention.
In this book, there are various interesting stunting prevention ideas divided into four categories, namely consumption patterns, parenting patterns, basic health services, and environmental health. All of that can be done by teenagers, starting from themselves to the wider community to prevent stunting.
Educational Games to Develop Early Childhood Language Skills
One method that can be used to develop children’s language skills is through language educational games. In simple terms, language educational games are games that are not only fun for children, but also contain learning content to develop children’s language.
So, language games aim not only to have fun but also to train children’s language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). Broadly speaking, this book consists of two parts, the first part explains several introductory theories, such as language development, play, educational games, and learning media.
The second part is some examples of language educational games that can be used by teachers and parents to develop children’s language skills. The discussion in this book uses simple and easy-to-understand language, making it very suitable for reading by PAUD students, PAUD teachers, and parents.
AZ That Comes After Giving Birth
Giving birth is a major event that is usually difficult for a mother to forget, until whenever. This historical event not only gave birth to a baby, but also the process of giving birth to a new figure, namely the mother.
With the birth of the baby, a mother will learn many things from this tiny figure. Also, there will be many things that come after giving birth. Starting from the puerperium, the breastfeeding period, the tiring nights of staying up late, the unavoidable mother’s drama, to the emergence of a motherhood crisis and the existence of roses around.
Therefore, preparing yourself with broad insight is very important for every expectant mother. This book will discuss any AZ that mothers will face after giving birth. Besides that, this book will also help her mother in preparing whatever is needed. The hope, even though it is tiring and requires struggle, being a happy mother is a necessity.
This is a review of the impact of stunting and its prevention steps. Sinaumed’s can also read books about stunting and parenting by visiting sinaumedia.com . sinaumedia always provides the best products so you have #MoreWithReading information.
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