Community-Based Stunting Prevention Through Nutrition Education and Local Food Empowerment in Rural Areas

Abstrak

Stunting remains a major public health challenge in rural areas of developing countries, including Indonesia. Limited parental knowledge regarding child nutrition, low utilization of local food resources, and inadequate community health education contribute significantly to the persistence of stunting cases. This community service program aimed to improve community awareness, enhance maternal knowledge, and promote sustainable stunting prevention strategies through nutrition education and local food empowerment in a rural village setting. The program was conducted using participatory community approaches involving village health cadres, mothers of toddlers, and local government stakeholders. The activities included baseline surveys, nutrition education workshops, growth monitoring training, cooking demonstrations utilizing local food ingredients, and continuous mentoring. Data collection involved anthropometric measurements, questionnaires, and observation during program implementation. The results demonstrated increased maternal understanding of balanced nutrition, improved growth monitoring practices by village health cadres, and higher community participation in utilizing locally available food resources. Preliminary findings indicated improvement in parental awareness and early detection of growth disorders among toddlers. The program shows that community-based empowerment and nutrition education can become sustainable strategies for reducing stunting prevalence in rural areas.