Effectiveness of Health Education about Stunting Toward Improvement of Community Knowledge

Abstract

Background: Stunting is chronic malnutrition associated with the risk of irreversible loss of cognitive function and stunting-related morbidity. Parental knowledge is essential in preventing stunting as it affects parenting patterns, child feeding practices, and the selection of food ingredients. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the improvement of public knowledge before and after given education about stunting. Methods: This descriptive study involved the community in the work area of the Driyorejo Public Health Center as the participants. We carried out community service in the form of health education about stunting and its prevention. Participants filled out a questionnaire before and after the intervention to evaluate the participants’ knowledge level. The demographic data, including gender, age, educational background, and occupation, are obtained using a self-reported questionnaire. Results: This study involved 85 participants consisting of 91.75% women with educational backgrounds, mostly having completed university (75.29%). The average score obtained before the intervention was 77.94, which increased to 87.35 after the intervention. The number of participants classified as having good knowledge increased from 58.82% to 83.53%, and the number of participants having poor knowledge decreased from 41.18% to 16.47% after the intervention. Conclusions: Health education done by health workers can significantly improve public understanding and increase public awareness about stunting. This emphasizes the important role of health workers as the spearhead in stunting prevention strategies.