The Relationship Between Nutrition Knowledge Levels and The Occurrence of Undernutrition in Preconception Women

Abstract

Chronic energy deficiency (CED) is a condition where someone experiences a long-term lack of nutrition, leading to health problems. This condition is usually experienced by women of reproductive age, including teenage girls, who have an upper arm circumference (UAC) of less than 23.5 cm. Based on a preliminary study conducted at SMAN 2 Cikampek, the researchers conducted brief interviews with 10 12th-grade students for the 2025/2026 school year. The results showed that 6 out of 10 (60%) students were not able to explain the meaning of nutrition, nutritional status, sources of nutrition, nutritional problems, and nutritional improvement. The examination results also showed that 5 out of 10 (50%) 12th-grade students had a UAC of less than 23.5 cm. This study aims to find out the relationship between knowledge about nutrition and the occurrence of CED in preconception women. The type of research used in this study is quantitative with a cross-sectional approach. The population in this study consisted of 12th-grade female students at SMAN 2 Cikampek for the 2025/2026 academic year who were willing to participate as respondents. The sampling technique used was simple random sampling with the online lottery application Wheel of Names. The sample size in this study was 80 students. The data collected were primary data, obtained using questionnaires and MUAC measurements with a MUAC measuring tape. The analysis used included univariate and bivariate analyses. The results of the Pearson Chi-Square analysis showed a significance value of 0.000, meaning sig <0.05, which indicates that H0 is rejected and H1 is accepted, showing a statistically significant relationship between knowledge of nutrition and the occurrence of undernutrition in preconception women at SMAN 2 Cikampek in 2026.