RELATIONSHIP OF KNOWLEDGE AND EDUCATION OF MOTHER AGAINST NUTRITIONAL STATUS OF TODDLER IN WORK AREA OF WISATA PADANG LAMBE HEALTH CENTER PALOPO CITY

Abstract

Toddlers are vulnerable to malnutrition (Soekirman, 2010). There fore toddlers are often used as an indicator of nutritional status in an area. The nutritional status of toddlers is very dependent on what is consumed and how the use of nutrients from food obtained.  The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship of knowledge and education of the mother to the nutritional status of children in the Work Area Puskesmas Tour Padang Lambe Palopo City. The research design used in this research is descriptive analytic research with cross sectional approach that is the type of research that emphasizes at the time of measurement / observation of independent variable data and dependent assessed by stimultan at one time. The sample obtained as many as 47 respondents by using purposive sampling method. Data analysis used is univariate and bivariate using Chi Square statistic test.

The result of the research showed that there was correlation between mother's knowledge with nutrition status of children under five years old (value ? = 0,036), there was correlation of education with nutrition status of toddler (value ? = 0,018). The conclusion in this research is there is relationship of knowledge and education of mother to toddler nutrition status in Work Area Puskesmas Wisata Padang Lambe Palopo City. It is expected that health workers can routinely provide counseling to parents about the importance of knowledge about child nutrition.