Strengthening Food Security Reduces the Anemic Status of Pregnant Women in the Coastal Area of Central Tapanuli

Etti Sudaryati^1* , Fikarwin Zuska² and Herta Masthalina³

¹Department of Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Indonesia.

²Departement of Anthropology, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia.

³Public Health Doctoral Program, Faculty of Public Health, Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia.

Corresponding Author E-mail: etti@usu.ac.id

According to WHO and UNICEF recommendations, one way to prevent stunting is exclusive breastfeeding until the baby is six months old. The aim of the study was to strengthen family food security through local food and nutrition literacy using behavior-based nutrition education methods (social cognitive theory). Action research is the method used, and the participants are pregnant women who moderately work as housewives, originate from food-insecure families, and have family incomes below the regional minimum wage of 30 people. Prior to the intervention, the consumption of pregnant women was measured using a 24-hour food recall and measurements of haemoglobin levels. For 12 weeks, community health professionals provided home visits and face-to-face lectures for pregnant women on local food literacy and nutrition interventions. Pregnant women consumed an average of 1926.3 calories prior to the intervention; 2315.2 calories were consumed after the intervention. Before the intervention, there were 19 pregnant women with anaemia (63.3%); after the intervention, there were only 4 (13.3%). There were 20 breastfeeding mothers (66.7%) on the first day. Pregnant women's nutrient consumption and dietary diversity increased as a result of the local food literacy and nutrition intervention, which was implemented for 4 months.

Breastfeeding; Diet; Food security; Nutritional status; Pregnant women

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