The Relationship Between Nutritional Status, Parenting Patterns and Environmental Sanitation with Diarrhea Incidence Among Toddlers

Abstract

Diarrhea is one of the common health problems among toddlers and may be influenced by several factors, including nutritional status, parenting practices, and environmental sanitation. Poor parenting practices and inadequate sanitation may increase the risk of infectious diseases among toddlers. This study aimed to analyze the relationship between nutritional status, parenting practices, environmental sanitation, and diarrhea incidence among toddlers in the working area of Karang Intan 1 Public Health Center, Banjar Regency. This study employed an analytic observational design with a cross-sectional approach and was conducted in 2026. The sample consisted of 102 toddlers aged 0–59 months selected using proportional random sampling. Data were collected through structured interviews using questionnaires and anthropometric measurements. Nutritional status was assessed using the weight-for-age (W/A) index, while parenting practices, environmental sanitation, and diarrhea incidence were assessed using questionnaires. Data were analyzed using univariate analysis and the Chi-Square test with a significance level of α=0.05. A total of 64 toddlers (62.8%) experienced diarrhea. Most toddlers had normal nutritional status (58.8%), while parenting practices were predominantly categorized as poor (50.0%) and environmental sanitation as poor (66.7%). There was no significant relationship between nutritional status and diarrhea incidence (p=0.989). In contrast, significant relationships were found between parenting practices and diarrhea incidence (p<0.001), as well as between environmental sanitation and diarrhea incidence (p<0.001). Parenting practices and environmental sanitation were significantly associated with diarrhea incidence among toddlers, whereas nutritional status based on the W/A index was not significantly associated with diarrhea incidence.