The Role of Built Environment on Under-Five Malnutrition in Indonesia

Abstract

Thirty five percent of under-five deaths are
associated with undernutrition. In fact, there were more than
one hundred million underweight children, 171 million
stunting children, 13 million low birth weight children. In
many developing and poor countries, malnutrition is still a
burden. The built environment is factors that affect the
nutritional status. Yet, the data and information on the
relationship between the built environment and the
undernutrition is still limited. The analysis aims to obtain the
relationship between the built environments with nutritional
problems on under-five children.
Method
This is a secondary data analysis. Data on the
prevalence of malnutrition on under-five children is obtained
from a national survey Basic Health Research (Riskesdas)
2013 that covers 82,666 children throughout 34 provinces in
Indonesia. Data of the built environmental was derived from a
national survey Village Potential Statistics 2011, which covers
all villages in Indonesia, 70,390 villages. Ecological analysis
and regression were conducted to examine the relationship
between prevalence of malnutrition and various built
environment variables. The unit of analysis is province.
Results
The prevalence of underweight (z-score <-2) was 19.6
per cent in 2013 and stunting (z-score <-2) was 37.2 per cent
on under-five children in 2013. The correlation analysis
suggested that variable of a waste temporary shelter (WTS) in
village (r= 0.70), four-wheel car passable roads in villages (r =
0.59), a restaurant/food vendor in village (r = -0.52), and a
minimarket in village (r = -0.59) had the most strongly and
significantly correlated with the prevalence of underweight (zscore
<-2SD). While variable of four-wheel car passable roads
in villages (r = -0.60), a waste temporary shelter in village (r =
-0.74), a minimarket in village (r = -0.56) were the most
strongly and significantly correlated with the prevalence of
stunting (z -score <-3SD). To eliminate underweight and
stunting in the longer term, interventions need to address
those variables and other underlying causes of undernutrition,
such as poverty, infrastructure, and unhealthy environment.