Modeling of Risk Factors of Childhood Stunting Cases in Malang Regency using Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR)

Background: Stunting is one of the fundamental problems in Indonesia's human development, with complex risk factors such as inadequate environmental sanitation. Objective: This study aims to conduct an analysis and mapping of spatially correlated sanitation risks on the prevalence of stunting among toddlers in Malang Regency, Indonesia. Methods: The field observations were conducted in 390 villages of urban and rural areas in Malang Regency. The secondary data of weighing toddlers in 2020 were collected from Malang Regency Health Office. The data included the identity of the residents and the history of the toddlers, while data from monthly program reports were collected from the Central Bureau of Statistics of Malang Regency. Furthermore, the study applied one and eight variables of Y and X. The Y variable was the number of stunting case toddlers, while X included the percentage of access to safe drinking water, percentage of access to permanent hygienic latrines, the topography of the region, percentage of Integrated Healthy Centre access, percentage of Exclusive Breastfeeding, Population density, ODF (Open Defecation Free) village and percentage of Integrated Healthy Centre Empowerment. Modeling the case of childhood stunting with the spatial regression method using Geographically Weighted Regression can be considered a sound approach. Results: The result showed that the distribution model of risk factors causing toddler stunting showed a spatial autocorrelation tendency with a clustered pattern in the area. The risk factors that were found to be spatially correlated with the incidence of stunting in children under five years of age in Malang district included access to proper drinking water (X1), access to latrines (X2), access to integrated health services (X3), exclusive breastfeeding coverage (X4), regional topography (X5), population density (X6), and empowerment of integrated health services (X8). However, the ODF (X7) did not show any correlation with stunting cases in the area. Conclusion: Spatial diversity and geographic variation affect the distribution pattern of risk factors causing stunting in Malang Regency. Therefore, stunting control with specific and sensitive interventions should be based on regional and local characteristics.