<![CDATA[ABSTRAK Gizi menjadi tantangan kesehatan yang dihadapi oleh banyak negara, baik yang telah maju maupun yang masih berkembang. Ada banyak faktor yang menjadi penyebab terjadinya masalah gizi buruk dan gizi kurang, termasuk kemiskinan, tingkat pendidikan dan pengetahuan orang tua, pola asuh mereka, makanan pendamping, penyakit infeksi, stabilitas keamanan negara, ketersediaan fasilitas kesehatan, kurangnya praktik pemberian ASI eksklusif, kejadian bayi lahir dengan berat rendah, serta asupan nutrisi selama kehamilan. Wilayah kerja Puskesmas Batutua merupakan puskesmas yang memiliki gizi buruk tertinggi sebanyak 193 balita pada tahun 2023. Penelitian ini dilakukan di Desa Oebafok Kabupaten Rote Ndao dan di laksanakan pada bulan Agustus 2024. Tujuan dari penelitian ini dilakukan untuk mengetahui faktor-faktor yang berhubungan dengan status gizi balita di Desa Oebefok Wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Batutua Kabupaten Rote Ndao. Jenis penelitian ini adalah penelitian kuantitatif dengan desain cross sectional study dan jumlah sampelnya 50 orang. Data dianalisis menggunakan univariat dan bivariat dengan uji chi square. Hasil riset menunjukkan bahwa ada hubungan tingkat pengetahuan (r=0,002),riwayat penyakit infeksi (r=0,003),pendapatan keluarga (r=0,000),tingkat konsumsi pangan (r=0,000). Di sarankan kepada ibu balita di Desa Oebafok wilayah Kerja Puskesmas Batutua Kabupaten Rote Ndao sebaiknya lebih memahami tentang pengatahuan gizi pada balita, dengan tujuan agar status gizi balita bisa dipantau secara maksimal dan menghindari status gizi buruk pada bailta. ABSTRACT Malnutrition is a health challenge faced by many countries, both developed and developing. There are many factors that contribute to the occurrence of malnourishment and undernutrition, including poverty, the level of education and knowledge of parents, their parenting styles, complementary feeding, infectious diseases, national security stability, availability of healthcare facilities, a lack of exclusive breastfeeding practices, the incidence of low birth weight infants, and nutritional intake during pregnancy. The working area of Batutua Community Health Centre is a health centre with the highest rate of malnutrition, recording 193 under-fives in 2023. This research was conducted in Oebafok Village, Rote Ndao Regency, and was carried out in August 2024. The aim of this research is to identify the factors related to the nutritional status of toddlers in Oebafok Village, the working area of the Batutua Health Centre in Rote Ndao Regency. This type of research is quantitative, employing a cross-sectional study design with a sample size of 50 individuals. Data were analysed using univariate and bivariate analysis with a chi-square test. Research results show that there is a relationship with knowledge level at 0.002, history of infectious diseases at 0.003, family income at 0.000, and level of food consumption at 0.000. It is recommended that mothers of toddlers in Oebafok village, the working area of Batutua Health Centre in Rote Ndao Regency, should better understand nutritional knowledge for toddlers, with the aim of monitoring the nutritional status of toddlers as effectively as possible and avoiding poor nutritional status in toddlers.]]>
