The Impact of Stunting on Children's Intelligence Levels [JN1.1] in Indonesia: An Analysis of Indonesian Family Life Survey (IFLS) Data
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26911/Abstract
Background: Stunting indicates chronic malnutrition during growth. Stunting have direct and long-term impacts, including on cognitive development. In children, cognitive development refers to the processes of remembering, decision-making, also problem-solving and closely related to their intelligence. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of stunting on children's intelligence.
Subjects and Methods: A prospective longitudinal analytical study utilizing secondary data from IFLS wave IV (IFLS4) in 2007/2008 and V (IFLS5) in 2014/2015. The target population was children aged 0-5 years who were measured for nutritional status in IFLS IV and had cognitive ability data in IFLS V. A total sampling of 848 children was taken after matching using Personal Identification Link (PIDLINK). Stunting status was assessed from the height-for-age ratio (H/U) <-2 SD, intelligence level was assessed by cognitive scores from the Raven's Progressive Matrices (RPM) test. Demographic, socioeconomic, and household health and sanitation aspects were also studied in relation to children's intelligence levels. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, Pearson's correlation test, and multiple linear regression to identify the presence of confounding variables.
Results: The incidence of stunting was found to be 16.2%. The average age of children in this study was 2.83±1.57 years, a small number of children were born prematurely (3.7%), most of them (77.6%) had complete immunization status and no history of chronic illness (60.5%), 42% children came from poor families, the majority of children whose unemployed parents (89.4%). The cognitive scores of stunted children were lower than those without stunting (53.1±22.55 vs. 64.8±21.38; p=0.001). Cognitive scores were also related to the child's age, parental education and occupation, economic status, and immunization. Stunting status was not proven to be an independent predictor of children's intelligence levels after adjusting for age, parental education and occupation, economic status, and immunization. Factors that were independent predictors of children's intelligence levels were the child's age, maternal education, and paternal occupation.
Conclusion: Efforts to improve children's cognitive development should not only focus on improving nutritional status, but also need to consider family social factors, improving parental education and the caregiving environment.
Keywords:
intelligence level, Stunting, Indonesian Family Life SurveyHow to Cite
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