Toddler’s Nutritional Status: the effect of infection rate as a mediating factor

This article examines how infection rate, as a mediating factor, affects toddlers' nutritional status in developing regions. A comprehensive cross-sectional study was conducted on 302 pairs of mothers and toddlers in four districts of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The research collected extensive data on socioeconomic factors including household income, maternal nutritional knowledge, feeding practices, toddlers' nutritional status mediated by infection rate, and the relationship between maternal knowledge and feeding practice. The findings support three of the four proposed hypotheses, providing valuable insights into child health determinants in resource-limited settings. The collected data was analyzed using SPSS 21 with descriptive statistics and partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) to ensure statistical rigor. Statistical analysis demonstrated significant relationships between variables. The findings reveal several important relationships: 1) there is a positive effect of income on nutritional status mediated by infection, highlighting socioeconomic influences; 2) there is a positive effect of maternal knowledge on nutritional status mediated by infection, emphasizing educational components; 3) there is no indirect effect of feeding practices on nutritional status mediated by infection, contrary to initial expectations; and 4) there is a direct relationship between maternal knowledge and feeding practice, confirming educational impact on care behaviors. Nutritional status and infection are strongly interrelated in a synergistic relationship, where each factor impacts the other. The infection rate serves as a critical mediating factor affecting toddlers' nutritional status in developing regions. These results support further longitudinal studies to investigate specific infection factors affecting toddlers across different developmental stages and socio-economic contexts.