Food Consumption among Under-five Children in Agats, Asmat District, Papua Province

Abstract

Context: Malnutrition outbreak in 2018 caused increased morbidity and mortality of Asmat children. Many studies indicated that malnourished children should receive adequate nutrients. Aim: The study aims to analyze food consumption among under-five children in Asmat. Settings and design: The cross-sectional study was conducted in Agats subdistrict, Asmat district, and Papua province, in July 2018 and included 62 under-five children. Children were selected using purposive sampling from five villages. Materials and methods: The primary data were collected by interview, direct measurement, questionnaire fulfillment consisting of general, anthropometric, and food consumption data. Statistical analysis used: descriptive data, composed of the characteristics of children, children’s nutritional status, and food consumption. Results: The average energy intake was 561.7 ± 335.3 kcal/day. The mean carbohydrate and protein were 93.3 ± 52.9 and 18.2 ± 11.2 g, respectively. The median fat intake was 7.53 (2.6, 16.9) g and fiber was 1.63 (1.0, 2.9) g/day. The median iron and zinc were 1.5 (0.8, 2.6) g and 1.5 (0.8, 2.3) g. The average folic acid intake was 36.4 ± 25.2 g. Conclusion: Compared to the Indonesian Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), the percentage of children’s energy (93.5%), protein (75.8%), fat (96.8%), carbohydrate (83.9%), fiber (91.9%), iron (88.7%), folic acid (98.4%), and zinc (88.7%) intakes was included as below of Indonesian RDA category. These results can be used to make appropriate dietary recommendations, which will be used as a substantial improvement in community service programs.