SPATIAL DISPARITY OF UNDER-FIVE NUTRITIONAL STATUS FOLLOWING THE STUNTING PREVALENCE INCREASE IN RIAU PROVINCE: A CORRELATION ANALYSIS WITH WATER AND SANITATION ACCESS, 2024

Abstract

Indonesia's national stunting prevalence declined from 21.5% in 2023 to 19.8% in 2024 according to the Indonesian Nutritional Status Survey (SSGI). However, Riau Province recorded the largest increase among all provinces at 6.5 percentage points, despite previously serving as a national reference for successful stunting reduction. This study aimed to analyze the spatial disparity of under-five nutritional status across districts and cities in Riau Province in 2024, and to examine its association with access to safe drinking water and sanitation. A descriptive-analytic design with a spatial approach was employed, utilizing secondary data from the SSGI 2024 and the National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas) published by the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS) for nine districts and cities with complete data availability. Results showed that stunting prevalence varied substantially, ranging from 12.5% in Bengkalis to 24.5% in Rokan Hilir. Spearman correlation analysis revealed a significant strong negative correlation between stunting prevalence and access to safe drinking water (rs = -0.717; p = 0.030), while the correlation with sanitation access showed the same direction but did not reach statistical significance (rs = -0.633; p = 0.067). Rokan Hilir, Kepulauan Meranti, and Kuantan Singingi were identified as districts requiring the highest intervention priority based on combined stunting prevalence and infrastructure access indicators. Kuantan Singingi presented an anomalous pattern, with relatively adequate sanitation access yet persistently high stunting prevalence, suggesting the role of non-WASH determinants. These findings highlight the importance of area-based differential policies over uniform province-wide approaches, and demonstrate the feasibility of open secondary data for rapid spatial analysis at the provincial level