The Effectiveness of Baby Massage in Stunting Prevention: Study Based on Body Length Gain in Infants aged 0–3 Months

Abstract

Baby massage is a gentle massage for infants aged 0-3 months that is believed to improve the baby's body length. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of baby massage on the increase in body length and weight of infants aged 0-3 months. This type of research was quasi-experimental. The samples were mothers and infants 0-3 months, divided into the treatment and control groups. The number of samples for each group was 35 respondents. Baby massage was carried out by the mother twice a day, in the morning and evening after bathing, for one month. The enumerators collected data on length and weight before and after 1 month in both groups and statistically tested by unpaired t-test. The reduction in stunting prevalence in the treatment group was 22.8%, while the control group was 8.6%. The prevalence of underweight in the treatment group did not significantly change (2.9%), while the control group experienced an increase of 11.7%. The increase in body length of the treatment group was 4.49 cm, and the control group was 3.23 cm; the baby massage significantly affected body length for infants 0-3 months (ρ=0.000). The average weight gain of infants in the treatment group was 825.7 g, and the control group was 702.9 g; the baby massage was not significantly affected the body weight (ρ=0.224). Thus, the baby massage can be an alternative in boosting the length and weight of babies aged 0-3 months