Penanganan Underweight pada Balita Melaui Pengembangan Budaya Makan Papadangan di Desa Pekayon Kecamatan Sukadiri Kabupaten Tangerang

Abstract

More than 50% of child deaths worldwide are related to malnutrition, largely due to inappropriate feeding practices. A survey of 10 mothers revealed that 9 had poor feeding habits. In Tangerang Regency, efforts to reduce the prevalence of underweight among children under five have not met expectations. Despite ongoing nutritional improvement programs, the issue of underweight in young children remains unresolved. This study aims to develop the traditional papadangan eating culture as an intervention strategy for managing underweight among children under five.This is a qualitative study using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) design. The participants consisted of families with underweight children who had not previously adopted the papadangan culture in their feeding practices. A total of 50 underweight children were involved in this research. The development of papadangan focused on four key areas: food diversity, hygienic food preparation, adequate caloric intake, and nutrition education. Data collection methods included in-depth interviews, observation, focus group discussions (FGDs), and documentation. The findings identified several key factors influencing child feeding behaviors: parenting style, food availability, local food culture or habits, and hygienic food management. The papadangan eating culture proved to be a promising strategy for preventing underweight by incorporating nutrition and health education into its implementation. This includes scheduled feeding, diversified food consumption, balanced nutrition education, and food hygiene.The intervention involved guiding child groups to eat together using a culturally rooted papadangan approach. The results suggest that the development of the papadangan eating culture can be scaled both locally and nationally as a sustainable short- and medium-term strategy to guide child nutrition development efforts.