The effect of providing multi nutrient functional biscuits on the nutritional status of malnourished toddlers

The main cause of malnutrition in Indonesia is the lack of nutrient intake, making it necessary to address this through the provision of supplementary foods. On the other hand, Indonesia has various local food resources that have not been optimally utilized, which need to be processed to enrich the nutritional content of snacks that can be used to prevent malnutrition. This study aims to determine the effect of Tumiz functional biscuits on the nutritional status of malnourished toddlers. The research was conducted as a clinical trial using a randomized control group pretest-posttest design, involving malnourished toddlers divided into two groups. Each group consisted of 35 children, with each group receiving the following treatment: K1 (Tumiz biscuits + nutrition education for their mothers), and K-2 (only nutrition education for their mothers). The intervention lasted for 4 weeks, nutrition status and albumin levels, before and after the intervention. The effect of the intervention within each group was analyzed using paired sample t-tests, while the effect between groups was analyzed using independent sample t-tests. The results showed a significant improvement in the z-score of BB/TB in the intervention group (p=0.007), but there was no significant difference in the z-scores of BB/U and TB/U between the two groups. Albumin levels decreased significantly in both groups, with no significant difference (p=0.312). In conclusion, the administration of Tumiz biscuits improved nutritional status based on BB/TB, but did not have a significant effect on BB/U and TB/U. Decreased albumin may be caused by a metabolic response due to prolonged malnutrition.