Association of maternal age during pregnancy with stunting in children age 2-3 years

Background: Nutritional problems are still a complex problem in Indonesia. Nutrition plays an important role in the human life cycle from the womb to old age. One factor contributing to stunting is the young mother's age at birth (<20 years) because it will increase the risk of premature birth and intra uterine growth inhibition, infant mortality, stunting and lack of mental readiness. Purpose: Analyzed the relationship between maternal age during pregnancy and the incidence of stunting in children aged 2-3 years at the Pakem Health Center, Sleman Regency. Method: This type of research is cross sectional study. The subject of this research is mothers who have children aged 2-3 years in 2021 at Pakem Health Center, Sleman Regency, as many as 317 that meet the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The data obtained is secondary data. Data analysis was carried out by statistical tests using Chi Square test with confidence level = 0.05. Results: There is a significant relationship between maternal age during pregnancy with the incidence of stunting at the Pakem Health Center, Sleman Regency in 2021 with p-value  0.000 (ρ < 0.05), which means that the age of the mother during pregnancy < 20 years and > 35 years is a risk factor that can affect the occurrence of stunting, and respondents who have an age of <20 years have a risk of 3.562 times more more experienced stunting compared to respondents aged 20-35 years. Conclusion: Maternal age during pregnancy have an effect on the incidence of stunting in children aged 2-3 years at Pakem Health Center, Sleman Regency in 2021.