Nafsu makan yang baik perlu dibentuk sejak dini agar tidak timbul gangguan makan di kemudian hari. Pola makan balita yang terganggu berdampak terhadap kesehatannya. Salah satu cara untuk mencegah hal tersebut dengan melakukan pijat. Pijat merupakan terapi kontak langsung dengan tubuh yang dapat memberikan rasa aman dan nyaman. Jika pijatan dilakukan secara teratur akan meningkatkan hormon katekolamin yang dapat memicu stimulasi tumbuh kembang, termasuk meningkatkan nafsu makan. Tujuan penelitian untuk mengetahui pengaruh pijat terhadap tingkat kesulitan makan balita umur 1 tahun di Puskesmas Baamang II. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan metode one group pretest posttest design. Penelitian dilaksanakan Januari sampai April 2019. Sampel adalah balita di wilayah kerja Puskesmas Baamang II sebanyak 15 responden. Setelah dilakukan analisa bivariat dengan statistik uji Wilcoxon didapatkan nilai p-value= 0,000< 0,05, disimpulkan bahwa ada pengaruh yang signifikan pada tingkat kesulitan makan balita sebelum dan sesudah dilakukan pemijatan, dimana nafsu makan balita sebanyak 15 responden (100%) sebelum dilakukan pemijatan mengalami kesulitan makan. Setelah dilakukan pemijatan yang tidak sulit makan sebanyak 13 responden (86,7%) dan yang tetap sulit makan sebanyak 2 responden (13,3%). Hal ini menunjukkan ada pengaruh pijat terhadap peningkatan nafsu makan balita usia 1 tahun.
Kata Kunci : balita, pijat, tingkat kesulitan makan ABSTRACTA good appetite needs to be formed early to avoid eating disorders later on. A toddler's disrupted diet has an impact on his health. One way to prevent this is to do a massage. Massage is a direct contact therapy with the body that can provide a sense of security and comfort. If the massage is done regularly it will increase the hormone catecholamine which can trigger growth stimulation, one of which is in increasing appetite. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of massage on the level of difficulty of feeding a toddler aged 1 year at the Baamang II Health Center. This study uses one group pretest-posttest design method. The study was conducted from January to April 2019. Samples were toddlers in the work area of the Baamang II Health Center as many as 15 respondents. After a bivariate analysis with Wilcoxon test statistics obtained p-value = 0,000 <0.05, it was concluded that there was a significant influence on the level of difficulty of feeding toddlers before and after massage, where toddlers' appetite as many as 15 respondents (100%) before it was done massage has difficulty eating. After doing massage, it is not difficult to eat as many as 13 respondents (86.7%) and those who still find it difficult to eat as many as 2 respondents (13.3%). This shows that there is an effect of massage on increasing appetite of toddlers aged 1 year.