Community-based zinc supplementation for linear growth recovery in stunted under-five children in Indonesia

Heny Yuniarti*    -  Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Semarang, Sultan Agung Islamic Hospital, Semarang, Indonesia
Joko Wahyu wibowo  -  Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Semarang, Indonesia
Shofi Khofsoftun Purjaningsih  -  Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Semarang, Study Program of Medical Education, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Semarang, Indonesia

(*) Corresponding Author

Stunting remains a significant nutritional challenge in Indonesia and across Southeast Asia, with zinc deficiency identified as a contributing factor to impaired linear growth in early childhood. Zinc is critical for growth hormone synthesis, bone development, and immune regulation. Despite existing intervention programs, stunting prevalence in Indonesia remained at 19.8% in 2024. This study evaluated the effect of zinc supplementation on the linear growth of stunted children aged 0–5 years attending Bangetayu and Genuk Public Health Centres in Semarang. Employing an observational analytic design with a one-group pretest-posttest approach, 42 stunted toddlers received a daily oral dose of 20 mg zinc sulfate syrup for two months. Anthropometric measurements were recorded before and after the intervention, with paired T-tests applied to normally distributed data and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to non-normal data. After two months of supplementation, 86% of the participants demonstrated improvements in both height and weight. The mean height increased from 79.9 cm to 81.0 cm (p < 0.001), while the mean weight increased from 9.28 kg to 9.74 kg (p < 0.001). These findings indicate that zinc supplementation significantly enhances linear growth among stunted toddlers. Consequently, integrating zinc supplementation into national nutrition intervention strategies could be pivotal in reducing early childhood stunting.

Keywords: Zinc supplementation; stunting; toddlers; linear growth; nutrition

  1. Adriani, M. & Wirjatmadi, B., 2014. The effect of adding zinc to vitamin A on IGF-1, bone age and linear growth in stunted children. Journal of Trace Elements in Medicine and Biology, 28(4): 431–435. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtemb.2014.08.007
  2. Ahmad, G., Ahmed, H., & Abbas, E. (2022). Systematic review and meta-analysis of zinc supplementation and stunting in children under 5 years of age. Bulletin of the National Nutrition Institute of the Arab Republic of Egypt, 59(1): 55–83. https://doi.org/10.21608/bnni.2022.245225
  3. Alves, C. X., Vale, S. H. L., Dantas, M. M. S., Albuquerque, F. C., França, M. C., & Carvalho, E. F. (2012). Positive effects of zinc supplementation on growth, GH, IGF-1, and IGFBP-3 in eutrophic children. Journal of Pediatric Endocrinology and Metabolism, 25(9–10): 881–887. https://doi.org/10.1515/jpem-2012-0120
  4. Aryastami, N. K. (2017). Kajian kebijakan dan penanggulangan masalah gizi stunting di Indonesia. Buletin Penelitian Kesehatan, 45(4): 233–240. https://doi.org/10.22435/bpk.v45i4.7465.233-240
  5. Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs. (2021). Pedoman Pelaksanaan Monitoring dan Evaluasi (Monev) Stranas Percepatan Pencegahan Stunting 2018–2024. TPPS Sekretariat Wakil Presiden RI.
  6. https://dashboard.stunting.go.id/wpcontent/uploads/2021/02/Pedoman%20Pelaksanaan%20Monev%20Strnas%20Stunting_FinalRevision.pdf
  7. Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Cultural Affairs. (2022, 20 Januari). Kejar target! Per tahun prevalensi stunting harus turun 3 persen. Kementerian Koordinator Bidang Pembangunan Manusia dan Kebudayaan. https://www.kemenkopmk.go.id/kejar-target-tahun-prevalensi-stunting-harus-turun-3-persen-0. Accessed 1 January 2025.
  8. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. (2025). Asia and the Pacific regional overview of food security and nutrition 2022: Statistics and trends. https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/34c598d2-41fb-4c8e-8c80-be0ac92553ff/content/sofi-statistics-rap-2022/stunting-among-children.html. Accessed 5 March 2025
  9. Gera, T., Shah, D., & Sachdev, H. S. (2019). Zinc supplementation for promoting growth in children under 5 years of age in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review. Indian Pediatrics, 56(5): 391–406. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13312-019-1537-z
  10. Gibson, R. S. (2006). The Rank Prize Lecture zinc : The missing link in combating micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries. July 2005, 51–60. https://doi.org/10.1079/PNS2005474
  11. Guo, J., Xie, J., Zhou, B., Kord-Varkaneh, H., Clark, C. C. T., Salehi-Sahlabadi, A., Li, Y., Han, X., Hao, Y., & Liang, Y. (2020). The influence of zinc supplementation on IGF-1 levels in humans: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of King Saud University – Science, 32(3): 1824–1830. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksus.2020.01.018
  12. Hotz, C., & Brown, K. H. (2004). Assessment of the risk of zinc deficiency in populations and options for its control. Food and Nutrition Bulletin, 25(1): S99–S199). https://doi.org/10.1177/15648265040251S203
  13. Imdad, A., & Bhutta, Z. A. (2011). Effect of preventive zinc supplementation on linear growth in children under 5 years of age in developing countries: A meta-analysis of studies for input to the Lives Saved Tool. BMC Public Health, 11(Suppl 3), S22. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-11-S3-S22
  14. Kasanah, U., & Muawanah, S. (2020). Efektifitas pemberian zinc dalam peningkatan tinggi badan (tb) anak stunting di Kabupaten Pati. Coping: Community of Publishing in Nursing, 8(3): 251. https://doi.org/10.24843/coping.2020.v08.i03.p05
  15. Molenda, M., & Kolmas, J. (2023). The role of zinc in bone tissue health and regeneration — a Review. Biological Trace Element Research, 201(12): 5640–5651. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-023-03631-1
  16. Ministry of Health Republic of Indonesia, Badan Kebijakan Pembangunan Kesehatan (BKPK). SSGI 2024: Prevalensi stunting nasional turun menjadi 19,8%. Kementerian Kesehatan RI. https://kemkes.go.id/id/ssgi-2024-prevalensi-stunting-nasional-turun-menjadi-198. Accessed 25 May 2025
  17. Prasad, A. S. (2013). Discovery of human zinc deficiency: Its impact on human health and disease. Advances in Nutrition, 4(2): 176–190. https://doi.org/10.3945/an.112.003210
  18. Priyantini, S., Nurmalitasari, A., & Am, M. (2023). Zinc intake affects toddler stunting: A Cross-sectional study on toddlers aged 3 years. Amerta Nutrition, 7(1): 20–26. https://doi.org/10.20473/amnt.v7i1.2023.20-26
  19. Prodam, F., & Aimaretti, G. (2013). Could zinc supplementation improve bone status in growth hormone (GH) deficient children?. Endocrine, 43(2013): 467–468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-013-9888-z
  20. Public Relations of BKPK. (2023, January 28). Two Focuses of Stunting Reduction Interventions to Achieve the 14% Target in 2024. Badan Kebijakan Pembangunan Kesehatan, Ministry of Health Indonesia. https://www.badankebijakan.kemkes.go.id/dua-fokus-intervensi-penurunan-stunting-untuk-capai-target-14-di tahun-2024/. Accessed 25 May 2025
  21. Purwandini, S., & Atmaka, D. R. (2023). Pengaruh kecukupan konsumsi zink dengan kejadian stunting : Studi literatur Media Gizi Kesmas, 12(1): 509–515. https://e-journal.unair.ac.id/MGK/article/view/36697
  22. Rocha, É. D. de M., Brito, N. J. N. de, Dantas, M. M. G., Silva, A. de A., Almeida, M. das G., & Brandão-Neto, J. (2015). Effect of zinc supplementation on GH, IGF1, IGFBP3, OCN, and ALP in non-zinc-deficient children. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 34(4): 290–296. https://doi.org/10.1080/07315724.2014.929511
  23. Roohani, N., Hurrell, R., Kelishadi, R., & Schulin, R. (2013). Zinc and its importance for human health: An integrative review. Journal of Research in Medical Sciences, 18(2): 144–157. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3724376/
  24. Stunting.go.id. (2025, 2 Juni). Percepatan penurunan stunting pada Balita adalah program prioritas Pemerintah. Stunting.go.id. https://stunting.go.id/
  25. Sutarto, S., Mayasari, D., & Indriyani, R. (2018). Stunting, faktor resiko dan pencegahannya. Jurnal Agromedicine, 5(1): 540–545. https://juke.kedokteran.unila.ac.id/index.php/agro/article/view/1999/pdf
  26. Wahyuningsih, S. E., Margawati, A., Mexitalia, M., Noer, E. R., & Syauqy, A. (2022). Effectiveness of zinc suplementation on linear growth of stunting toddlers in Semarang City. Jurnal Aisyah : Jurnal Ilmu Kesehatan, 7(4): 1273–1280. https://doi.org/10.30604/jika.v7i4.1482
  27. WHO. (2025). The Global Health Observatory Explore a world of health data Joint child malnutrition estimates. 2025. https://www.who.int/data/gho/data/themes/topics/joint-child-malnutrition-estimates-unicef-who-wb.

Open Access Copyright (c) 2025 Sains Medika: Jurnal Kedokteran dan Kesehatan
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Sains Medika: Jurnal Kedokteran dan Kesehatan
is published by Faculty of Medicine Universitas Islam Sultan Agung, Indonesia in association with FOKI (FORUM KEDOKTERAN ISLAM INDONESIA).

Contact: Jl. Raya Kaligawe Km.4, PO BOX 1054/SM Semarang 50112, Indonesia
Phone+62 8122-9933-369
Website: https://fkunissula.ac.id
Email: sainsmedika@unissula.ac.id

ISSN: 2339-093X (Online) | 2085-1545 (Print)
DOI : 10.30659/sainsmed

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Get a feed by atom here, RRS2 here and OAI Links here

apps