The Effect of Saliva Zink Levels with Nutrition Status of Elementary School Children in Air Beliti Puskesmas Year 2021

Abstract

Malnutrition in children is a very important problem because it has a direct impact on the growth and development of children. The most influential factor on nutrition is diet. Malnutrition in children can lead to micronutrient deficiencies, especially zinc and iron. The prevalence of stunting in children under five in Indonesia has decreased but is still above the stunting threshold set by the world at 20%. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between salivary zinc and iron levels with the nutritional status of elementary school children in the Air Beliti Health Center work area. Methods: Laboratory observational study. The study was conducted on 76 respondents who met the inclusion criteria. The measuring instruments used in the research are observation sheets, and laboratory examinations with data analysis using Univariate, Bivariate, and Multivariate. The study was conducted in March 2021. Results: The research showed that there was an effect of salivary zinc examination on the nutritional status of elementary school children (p value = 0.002). Conclusions and Suggestions: Based on the results above, it was concluded that there is an effect of salivary zinc examination in examining the nutritional status of elementary school children, from the above findings, there are more efforts to produce accurate data on the nutritional status of school children, so that zinc deficiency problems occur can be controlled.