Local Food-Based Supplementation and Behavior Change Communication Improve Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) in Pregnant Women: A Community-Based Intervention Study

Chronic Energy Deficiency in pregnant women remains a major nutritional issue in Indonesia and contributes to adverse birth outcomes and the risk of childhood stunting.  Community-based interventions that integrate nutrition education and food supplementation have shown promise but remain underutilized. This study aimed to   evaluate the effectiveness of an integrated nutrition intervention, consisting of Behavior Change Communication (BCC)-based education and local food-based supplementary feeding, on improving the Mid-Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) and nutritional status of pregnant women in high-stunting prevalence areas. The results showed that an integrated nutrition intervention, combining Behavior Change Communication education with local food-based supplementary feeding, effectively improves maternal nutritional status by increasing MUAC and hemoglobin levels, thereby reducing the prevalence of Chronic Energy Deficiency among pregnant women.