Maternal and Child Health handbook and under-6 child overweight in greater Jakarta, Indonesia: a cross-sectional web-based survey

Abstract

Background In Indonesia, the double burden of child overnutrition and undernutrition is a public health concern. The nationally distributed Maternal and Child Health (MCH) handbook provides child nutrition information to caregivers. We aimed to find mothers’ information sources regarding child nutrition, including the internet and the MCH handbook, and to explore the association between overweight and use of the MCH handbook. Method A cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted among mothers with children under 6 years old in Greater Jakarta during 2019. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression examined the association between child nutrition status and use of the MCH handbook. Results Data were collected from 233 children. Overweight, underweight, wasting, and stunting were identified in 36.4%, 22.6%, 26.8%, and 37.6%, respectively. 62.5% of mothers used the MCH handbook, and 88.2% used the internet via a mobile phone. Significantly more cases of overweight were observed among children whose mothers used the MCH handbook (adjusted OR [aOR]: 5.829; 95% Confidential Interval [CI]: 1.618–20.999) whereas no relationship was observed between MCH handbook use and child undernutrition. Significant associations with child overweight were found for mother’s education (tertiary) (aOR: 0.294; 95%CI: 0.098–0.885), employment type (fulltime) (aOR: 0.185; 95%CI: 0.061–0.562), watching television (more than 1 h) (aOR: 4.387; 95%CI: 1.648–11.678) and recognition of child overweight by mother (yes) (aOR: 3.405; 95%CI: 1.05–11.03). Conclusion These results indicate the need to support mothers of children exhibiting overnutrition and undernutrition. The MCH handbook should be modified to address this issue.