Association Between C-Reactive Protein (CRP) Levels and Stunting Status Among Toddlers in Jambi City

Abstrak

Background: Stunting remains a major public health problem in Jambi Province, Indonesia, with prevalence in the Talang Banjar catchment area rising from 13.5% to 17.1% between 2023 and 2024, contrary to the national declining trend. Environmental Enteric Dysfunction (EED), a chronic intestinal inflammation, is a key mediator of stunting, assessed via inflammatory markers such as C-reactive protein (CRP). Objective: This study analysed the association between CRP levels and stunting status among toddlers in the catchment area of Talang Banjar Primary Health Center, Jambi City, as baseline data for the SMART-GUT feature of the CANTIK UNJA application. Methods: A descriptive-analytic cross-sectional study was conducted among toddlers aged 7-59 months diagnosed with stunting (height-for-age z-score < -2 SD, WHO) registered at the health center; consecutive sampling yielded 24 toddlers with complete data. Capillary CRP was measured semi-quantitatively by slide agglutination and expressed in mg/dL, with 4 mg/dL as the non-reactive threshold. Stunting status and CRP were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test, with Spearman correlation for CRP versus height-for-age z-score. Results: Among 24 toddlers (8 stunted, 16 severely stunted), all (100%) had a CRP level of 4 mg/dL, with no between-group difference (mean ± SD 4.0 ± 0.0 mg/dL; U = 64.0; p = 1.000). Conclusions: No significant association was found between CRP level and stunting severity, as all samples showed a uniform, non-reactive CRP value. These findings highlight the need for a quantitative CRP assay with a wider detection range to capture EED-related subclinical inflammation in stunted children.

Kata kunci

• C-reactive Protein
• Stunting
• Toddler
• Environmental Enteric Dysfunction