Abstract

Underweight in infants and under-five children may cause growth and developmental disorders and it remains one of the major factors causing child mortality, illness and disability. Underweight is still one of the nutritional problems in Indonesia and the government is undertaking all efforts and drawing up effective strategies to reduce the prevalence of underweight in Indonesia. The purpose of this study was to see what factors were associated with underweight in under-five-year-old children in Lebak Regency and Tangerang City, Banten Province. The study applied the logistic regression method using the 2013 Basic Health Research. Underweight in children was calculated by converting the anthropometric measurements into a standardized value (Z-score), which was then presented in the index of body weight for age. The results obtained among 492 infants revealed there were 28.5% (about 75 children under five) with underweight status. Children from families who did not apply good sanitation by disposing of garbage in an unsanitary manner had a risk of 15.2 folds (OR = 15.2, 95% CI = 4.69-49.65) to be underweight compared with those who had good sanitation behaviors. Children under five from families with a low socioeconomic status had a risk of 2.5 folds (OR = 2.5, 95% CI = 1.12-5.53) to suffer from underweight compared to those who had a high socioeconomic status. The conclusion is sanitation and socioeconomic status are related to the underweight status of children under five in Lebak Regency and Tangerang City.

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