Underweight among Children under TwoYears in Indonesia

Abstract

Underweight, have an impact on low cognitive, productivity, and intellectual abilities in children. This
study aimed to analyze ecologically the factors related to underweight among children under two years in
Indonesia.The study conducted using secondary data from the Indonesia Ministry of Health official report.
Apart from the prevalence of underweight in children under two years, four other variables analyzed as
independent variables were the percentage of population passing Junior High School, poor population,
exclusive breastfeeding, and prevalence of low birth weight.Data were analyzed using cross-tabulation.
The results showed there was no relationship between the prevalence of underweight in children under two
years with the percentage of population passing Junior High School and the percentage of poor population.
Meanwhile, there is a positive relationship between the prevalence of low birth weight with the prevalence
of underweight in children under two years. The higher the prevalence of low birth weight, the higher the
prevalence of underweight in children under two years. Moreover, the study found the higher the percentage
of exclusive breastfeeding, the lower the prevalence of underweight in children under two years in a region.
The study concluded that ecologically two variables have an ecological relationship with the prevalence of
underweight in children under two years, namely the prevalence of low birth weight and the percentage of
exclusive breastfeeding.