Children's Characteristics as the Predictors of Stunting among Children Under 2 Years in East Nusa Tenggara in Indonesia.

Background: East Nusa Tenggara is a province in the east of Indonesia with a relatively high stunting proportion than other provinces. This situation is exacerbated by the poverty that characterizes the people of this region. The study analyzes children's characteristics related to stunting among children under 2 years in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia.

Methods: The cross-sectional study examined 3,134 children under 2 years. Besides nutritional status (stature), the study analyzed five children's characteristics as exposure variables (birth weight, birth length, early initiation of breastfeeding, gender, and age) and six control variables (residence, maternal age, marital, maternal education, employment, wealth). We employed a binary logistic regression test in the last step.

Results: Low-birth-weight children are 1.970 times more likely than normal children to experience stunting [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.905-2.037]. Children with short birth lengths are 1.373 times more likely than those with standard measurements to be stunted (95% CI 1.331-1.417). On the other hand, children without early initiation of breastfeeding are 1.034 times more likely than those with early initiation of breastfeeding (95% CI 1.013-1.057). Meanwhile, a boy is 1.426 times more likely to be stunted than a girl to experience stunting (95% CI 1.397-1.456). Moreover, based on children's age, 12-23 are 3.435 times more likely than those ≤12 to be stunted (95% CI 3.360-2.513).

Conclusion: The study concluded that five children's characteristics were related to the stunting incidence in East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia: birth weight, birth length, early breastfeeding initiation, gender, and age.