The relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and stunting in toddlers: A literature review

Introduction: Stunting is a chronic malnutrition problem caused by insufficient nutritional intake for a long time due to the provision of food that does not meet nutritional needs. Malnutrition at an early age increases infant and child mortality rates, causes sufferers to get sick easily and have less than optimal body posture as adults. Stunting is a condition when toddlers have a length or height that is less than their average age. This can be measured by length or height <-2 standard deviation of the median standard deviation of child growth from WHO. Many factors cause stunting, one of which is exclusive breastfeeding is also a direct factor causing stunting. ASI (Mother's Milk) is breast milk produced by the mother and contains nutrients needed by the baby for the baby's needs and development. Babies are only given breast milk, without additional fluids such as formula milk, orange juice, honey, tea, water and without additional solid foods such as bananas, papaya, milk porridge, biscuits, rice porridge and tim, for 6 months. The benefits of exclusive breastfeeding for babies include complete nutrition, increasing body resistance, increasing stable mental and emotional intelligence and mature spirituality followed by good social development, easy to digest and absorb, has a composition of fat, carbohydrates, calories, protein and vitamins, protection against infectious diseases, protection against allergies because breast milk contains antibodies, provides intelligence and nerve stimulation, improves health and intelligence optimally.

Method: This study is a literature review sourced from Google Scholar, PUBMED, and Science Direct, with a focus on research published between 2019 and 2024. This study only includes original research articles in English or Indonesian with all required components.

Result and Discussion: From the literature review, 10 studies were found that met the inclusion criteria. This study found a correlation between the relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and the incidence of stunting in toddlers.

Conslusion: Based on research, there is a relationship between exclusive breastfeeding and the incidence of stunting in toddlers.