The Effects Of Training In Utilizing Local Food With The Pis-Pk Method To Improve Toddlers' Nutritional Status

Background: Malnutrition in early childhood will cause the failure of the immune system formation, physical impairment, mental development, and cognitive inhibition. Local food consumption can indicate children's nutrition improvement and can be understood by various methods, including the family expectation method (PIS-PK). Objective: the effects of training in utilizing local food with the PIS-PK method to improve toddlers' nutritional status. Methods: This research employed a quantitative approach with pre-experimental research design and one-group pretest– posttest design. The research subject was one intervention group without a control group. The intervention group received training in using the PIS-PK approach and was assessed before and after the training (pre-test and post-test). Results: The result obtains the Sig. value of 0.000, and it is smaller than the research error limit of 0.05. This finding indicates that using local food and the PIS-PK method influences toddlers' nutritional status improvement. The nutritional status assessed by the Z-score value indicates an increase in a positive direction because the post-test’s value was more significant than the pre-test’s value. This finding shows that the training-based interventions by utilizing local food have a positive impact because it can assist mothers to provide local food. Conclusion: It is concluded that utilizing local food with PIS-PK method has a positive impact because it can increase toddlers' weight and nutritional status. This intervention can be an alternative to overcome toddlers' malnutrition problems in Sikka Regency, especially in Magepanda District.