Effectiveness of a nutrition education of gotu kola (Centella asiatica) as meals and nutritional health by mothers of young children with picky eating behaviour

Abstract

Background: The incidence of stunting in Indonesia is still high with a prevalence of 21.6% in 2022. Stunting causes adverse effects both short and long term, one of the causes of stunting is picky eaters. Gotu kola (Centella asiatica) food processing is one of the efforts to deal with picky eaters.

Purpose: To find out the relationship between giving gotu kola (centella asiatica) as an additional food and nutritional health by mothers of young children with picky eating behavior.

Method: A pre-experimental study with one group pretest post-test design. The study was conducted at Mathla'ul Huda Kindergarten, Baleendah District, Bandung Regency, Indonesia in April – June 2023. The samples in this study were mothers and toddlers aged 3-6 years totaling 30 people with total sampling techniques. The research was carried out by conducting a pretest, then providing health education interventions on Centella asiatica food processing innovations as an effort to overcome picky eaters, then after 4 days a post test was carried out. The research instrument is a questionnaire. Data analysis was carried out univariate and bivariate using the Spearman Rank test.

Results: The results of the analysis show that there is a significant difference between the results before and after the intervention with a p-value of 0.000 so that there is a relationship between healthy food innovation based on Centella asiatica in children aged 3-6 years and picky eaters.

Conclusion: It is recommended that parents better understand children's eating behavior, especially children with picky eater behavior, and must provide food intake that is appropriate to the child's needs and age so that the child gets adequate nutrition.