<![CDATA[Background: Adequate nutrition during early childhood is essential to support optimal growth and development and to prevent stunting. Fathers play an important role in child feeding practices and family decision-making; however, their involvement is often limited due to a lack of knowledge, work-related time constraints, and the percneption that child care is primarily the mother's responsibility. Therefore, efforts are needed to increase fathers' involvement through community-based health education. Methods: This study used a pre-experimental design with a community nursing care approach conducted over three weeks. The sample consisted of 11 fathers with children aged 0–60 months in Kalipakis Hamlet, Bantul, Yogyakarta, selected purposively. The intervention was a health education program on fathers' roles in meeting toddlers' nutritional needs. Data were collected using a father involvement questionnaire before and after the intervention. Data analysis was performed using the Wilcoxon test. Results: The mean score of fathers' involvement increased from 54.91±13.53 before the intervention to 73±4.8 after the intervention. The Wilcoxon test showed a significant difference between pre- and post-intervention scores (p < 0.001), indicating that health education improved fathers' involvement in meeting toddlers' nutritional needs. Conclusion: Community-based health education through community nursing care is efficacious in improving fathers' knowledge and involvement in child nutrition. Family-centered interventions that actively involve fathers should be strengthened as a strategy to prevent nutritional problems and stunting in children.]]>
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