Impact of Early Marriage on Childhood Stunting

2020

en

Conference or Workshop Item

text

Pregnancy requires increased iron needs, while teenage pregnancy also needs iron for growth. As a result, teenage pregnancy has an impact on the risk of stunting in their children. The purpose of this study is to prove the relationship between early marriage and the risk of stunting in children. The design of this study was observational using a cross-sectional method with a quantitative approach. The study was conducted at 8 Community Health Centers in West Bangka Regency, Bangka Belitung Islands Province, Indonesia, during October-November 2018. The research sample consisted of 310 children aged 0-59 months. To find out the age at marriage, the researcher used interviews as primary data and records from Puskesmas, Office of Religious Affairs, the measurement of antopometry of stunting data or nutritional status of children under-five as secondary data. The analysis of the results used Odds Ratio and Chi-Square test of 95% confidence interval. The results from 8 health centers showed that the highest incidence of early marriage (under 20 years old) by engaging teenage pregnant who had stunting children were at the Kundi Health Center (78.6%) and Sekar Biru Health Center (83,3%). There was a significant relationship between the early married teenage and stunting in their children (OR = 1,724; 95% CI = 1,088-2,732; p = 0.020). Early marriage (under20 years old) increases the risk of stunting in children. Therefore, it is necessary to educate and regulate the marriageable age.