Friday, 15 July 2022, the Faculty of Public Health (FPH), Universitas Indonesia (UI), held an open doctoral promotion session on behalf of Avliya Quratul Marjan. Prof. Dr. dr. Sudijanto Kamso, S.K.M., as Chairman of the Session, Prof. Dr. dr. Dra. Ratu Ayu Dewi Sartika, Apt. M.Sc., as Promoter, Prof. Endang Laksminingsih Achadi, M.P.H., Dr.PH, and Dr. Sri Redatin Retno Pudjiati, M. Psychologist, as Co-Promoter. The examiner team consisted of Prof. Dr. dr. Hartono Gunardi, Sp.A(K); Atmarita, M.P.H., Dr.PH; Dr. Hera Nurlita, S.SIT., M.Kes.; Dr. Besral, S.K.M., M.Sc.; and Dr. Ir. Cecilia Dwiriani, M.Sc. Avliya defended his dissertation entitled “Pursue Growth and Cognitive Ability of Indonesian Children (IFLS Longitudinal Data Analysis 1997, 2000, 2007, and 2014)”.
The session was held online via the Zoom Meeting platform and attended by Prof. drh. Rizal Damanik, Ph.D., as the Deputy for Research and Development of the BKKBN, Dr. drg. Wahyu Sulistiadi, M.A.R.S., as the Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences UPN Veterans Jakarta, Representative of the Mother and Child Health Movement (GKIA), and Representative of the Ministry of Education and Culture’s Community Directorate.
“The average cognitive ability of Indonesian children in the results of the PISA survey shows a score of 397 points which is still below the world average, which is 500 points. One of the causes of low cognitive ability is malnutrition, especially in the first 1,000 days of life (HPK), which has an impact on cognitive development barriers if proper intervention is not given. So that the national stunting trend in 2021 according to the Indonesian Nutrition Status Survey (SSGI) is 24.4%,” said Avliya, opening the summary of his dissertation.
This study aimed to analyze the relationship between catch-up growth in toddlers (3-5 years) with the cognitive abilities of children in Indonesia as well as obtained information related to the percentage of children who experienced catch-up growth as toddlers and how it affects cognitive abilities at the age of 10-12 years and 17-19 years of age.
The study was conducted through an observational research design retrospective method using IFLS longitudinal data and a cohort model consisting of two models. Model 1 started when children aged 0-23 months in 1997 were observed until ages 10-12 years in 2007, and model 2 started when children aged 0-23 months in 1997 were observed until ages 17-19 years in 2014.
Avliya’s research results show that the group of stunted children does not catch up with growth at risk of having cognitive abilities 1.7 points lower at the age of 10-12 years than children who have never been stunted. Furthermore, the group of children who experience stunted growth has a risk of having cognitive abilities 0.9 points lower at the age of 17-19 years than children who have never been stunted but are still affected by cognitive abilities aged 10-12 years.
Avliya suggested one of them to the Ministry of Health to increase and strengthen socialization and the importance of routine antenatal care (ANC) examinations for pregnant women. They were strengthening the stimulation program for early intervention detection of growth and development (SDIDTK) and consuming iron supplement tablets (TTD).
Based on the results of his dissertation, Avliya has successfully declared a graduate and became a Doctor in the Public Health Sciences (IKM). Avliya is the 267th IKM doctoral graduate and the 345th doctoral graduate at FPH UI. (AHS)
