EFFECTIVENESS OF FAMILY ASSISTANCE FOR TODDLERS WITH MOTHER CLASS ON WEIGHT GAIN AND CHANGES IN NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TODDLERS

Abstract

Nutrition is one of the key determinants of high-quality human resources who are healthy, intelligent, and productive. Malnutrition and undernutrition in children under five remain major nutritional problems that require more serious attention. Nutritional issues in toddlers can hinder growth spurts. Causes of nutritional problems in toddlers include improper caregiving practices, such as giving prelacteal feeding to infants, not providing exclusive breastfeeding, and improper complementary feeding. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of family assistance for toddlers through the mother class on weight gain and changes in nutritional status among toddlers in the working area of Samudra Health Center. A quasi-experimental one-group pretest and posttest design was used in the study involving 32 mothers of toddlers from the Samudra Health Center. Family assistance for toddler nutrition was provided, with data analysis conducted using paired t-test and Wilcoxon test.The research results for the variable of children's weight showed that the average weight during the pretest was 9.39 kg, and after the intervention, it increased to an average of 11.5 kg. The p-value obtained was 0.000, indicating that the assistance provided through the mother class is effective in increasing the weight of toddlers. For the variable of nutritional status, the p-value was 0.000, meaning that the assistance through the mother class is effective in improving the nutritional status of toddlers.