OBJECTIVE: Stunting is the biggest problem of malnutrition among the 4 markers of malnutrition in the world. Based on the Riset Kesehatan Dasar (Riskesdas), the number of stunting in Indonesia among children in 2013 was 37.2% which made it a major health problem because it can increase the morbidity and mortality rate, impaired cognitive development and chronic disease in the future. North Kayong District, which is located in West Kalimantan Province, has a stunting prevalence of 23.47%, which according to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the stunting problem is above 20% it is a public health problem. The low coverage of exclusive breastfeeding in infant has an influence on child development, therefore knowing correlation betweeen exclusive breastfeeding and stunting is important.
METHOD: This type of research is an observational analytic study with a cross sectional design. It was conducted from September to December 2018, the sample in the study were children aged 24-59 months who came to the Posyandu in the working area of Puskesmas Sukadana and obtained 115 samples that included in the inclusion criteria. Data analysis using chi-square test to determine the correlation of the variables under study.
RESULT: Referred to the WHO standard for monitoring nutritional status based on height / age, 23,47% of children experienced stunting in the working area of Puskesmas Sukadana, North Kayong District. Research showed that only 68.7% of children get exclusive breastfeeding. The result of the study using chi-square test showed that there was no gender correlation with exclusive breastfeeding status (p value = 0.099), whereas there was a correlation between nutritional status based on height / age (p value = 0,0001) with exclusive breastfeeding status.
CONCLUSION: The correlation between stunting and exclusive breastfeeding indicates that exclusive breastfeeding can prevent stunting.