Media Information Exposure and Stunting Prevalence in Rural Area, Banyumas Regency, Indonesia

Background: Stunting is a global public health priority with a target of reducing stunting prevalence by 40% between 2010 and 2025. Most of the stunting determinants are behavioral factors that can be prevented to reduce cases. Purpose: This study aims to analyze the correlation between media information exposure, history of infectious diseases to the prevalence of stunting in the Banyumas Regency. Methods: This is an analytical study with case-control design, located in 10 locus of stunting area inBanyumas Regency, Central Java. 181 cases and 181 control groups were involved in th is study. Data collection was carried out using a structured questionnaire. The variables analyzed included characteristic, media exposure and history of infectious diseases in children. Data analysis was conducted by univariate, bivariate, and multivariate. Results: This study highlighted the role of media information exposure to the prevalence of stunting in the study area (p.0.02), while the history of infectious diseases did not correlate to the prevalence of stunting. The media information exposure in the research covers the awareness, causes, features, and effects of stunting on children. Conclusion: The impor tance of media exposure to increase parental knowledge and understanding to prevent stunting is required. I t also requires effor ts on the par t of the different parties to implement health education with a variety of media to prevent and minimize the occurrence of stunting in the community.