Peningkatan ketahanan keluarga dan kualitas pengasuhan untuk meningkatkan status gizi anak usia dini

Abstract

The results of the research for over twenty years have shown that nutritional problem solution on a child depends on three major factors, namely individual food security, access towards health services, and the availability of the person who is in charge of adequate care (Engle, Menon & Hadad, 1997), in which the three factors operate in the family level and community level (Shrimpton, 2006). This research was aimed to study the family strength and parenting quality to child growth and development. This cross sectional research was carried out in Bandung Regency (Pangalengan and Ciwidey area). The respondent were 500 plantation women workers and their children aged below 6 years old (early age) were taken through simple random sampling. Data consisted of family characteristics, family strength, parenting, and nutritional status and child development. Results showed that the higher family strength, the better the family childcare practices (emotional dimension, direction dimension, and parenting environment). Furthermore, the better the childcare practice of warmth dimension was, the better the child nutritional status (WAZ, weight for Age Z-score) and child development. A better parenting environment also showed a better child development. Structural equation modeling test showed there was significant and positive relation between family strength and childcare practices; between childcare practices and nutritional status, and between childcare practices and child development (GFI/AGFI value is 0.97/0.95). The results showed that the analyzed model fit with the data that have been collected. Finally, the research model indicated that the increasing of family strength and parenting practices become absolute requirement for child to grow and develop optimally.