Abstract

Made Darawati, Andi Eka Yunianto, Ni Ketut Sri Sulendri, Omdah

Stunting in toddlerhood will affect the quality of life at school age, adolescence, and even adults. Nutrition education for mothers and caregivers of toddlers is one of the recommendations to alleviate the problem of stunting. This study aimed to determine the effect of stunting prevention through participatory counselling on the application of balanced nutrition in children under five by involving local puppeteers in Central Lombok Regency, West Nusa Tenggara. This research used a quasi-experimental design. The number of subjects in this study was children under five, and their mothers were about 66 people consisting of 33 people in each group (treatment group and control group). Different T-test analysis was used to see differences in nutrient intake between both groups. Providing nutrition education through local puppeteers to children under five and their mothers had a significant effect (p <0.05) on the intake of nutrients in the form of energy, protein, carbohydrates, vitamin C, iron, calcium, and fibre. These stunting preventions through participatory counselling on balanced nutrition by involving local puppeteer’s potential to be developed as an alternative for stunting prevention toward children under five.