<![CDATA[Stunting remains one of Indonesia’s most persistent public health challenges, with West Java contributing the highest number of cases due to its large population and regional disparities in household welfare. Identifying household groups vulnerable to stunting is essential for designing targeted interventions that integrate nutrition, sanitation, and socio-economic development. This study introduces a data-driven clustering framework using the K-Modes and K-Prototypes algorithms to classify 22,161 households in West Java based on 26 indicators from the March 2024 National Socioeconomic Survey (SUSENAS), encompassing food security, sanitation, drinking water access, economic conditions, social assistance, and demographics. The K-Modes algorithm was applied to categorical data, while K-Prototypes integrated numerical and categorical variables, with parameter optimization performed using a grid search and the Elbow method. Clustering performance was evaluated through the Silhouette Score, Calinski–Harabasz Index, and Davies–Bouldin Index, followed by a bootstrapped stability analysis employing the Adjusted Rand Index (ARI) and Normalized Mutual Information (NMI). Results show that K-Prototypes outperformed K-Modes, yielding a higher Silhouette Score (0.6681 compared to 0.2922), higher CH Index (13,890.6 compared to 3,976.1), and lower DBI (0.4607 compared to 1.5274), indicating superior compactness and separation. Stability testing confirmed strong robustness, with mean ARI = 0.959 and mean NMI = 0.932 across 50 bootstrap replications. The optimal five-cluster structure identified distinct socioeconomic groups, with the highest stunting risk found among households with low income, limited housing space, inadequate sanitation, and more children under five. The findings highlight the effectiveness of K-Prototypes in modeling mixed-type data and support the design of evidence-based, regionally adaptive stunting reduction strategies aligned with Presidential Regulation No. 72/2021 on the Acceleration of Stunting Reduction.]]>
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