38 THE INFLUENCE OF CALCIUM AND IRON SUPPLEMENTATION IN PREGNANT WOMEN TO AFFECT NEWBORN BODY LENGTH IN BENGKULU Agung Riyadi 1* , Lisma Ningsih 2 , Jumiyati 3 , Antun Rahmadi 4 1 Department of Nursing, Bengkulu Health Polytechnic, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia. 2 Department of Health Promotion, Bengkulu Health Polytechnic, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia. 3 Department of Nutrition, Bengkulu Health Polytechnic, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia. 4 Department of Nutrition, Tanjung Karang Health Polytechnic, Ministry of Health, Republic of Indonesia. *E-mail: agungr881@gmail.com ABSTRACT In 2021, the rate of stunting in Indonesia was 24.4%, and 21.1% happened in Bengkulu province. In 2020, the proportion of pregnant women who receive iron tablets in Bengkulu Province was 97%. Some regencies have a lower proportion, such as North Bengkulu at 87%. Pregnant women who suffer from the lack of iron and folic acid intake may experience anemia and impaired fetal growth. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of calcium and iron supplementation in pregnant women on newborn body length in Bengkulu Province. This study used an experimental design with a post-test-only control group. The population was third semester pregnant women in Bengkulu Province. Subjects were taken using purposive sampling technique. The number of subjects involved was 29 in intervention group and control group. Instruments used in this study were food frequency questionnaire (FFQ), mid upper arm circumference tape, and a respondent characteristics questionnaire. Data analysis methods include independent t-test, correlation, and double linear regression. The consumption of iron tablets and calcium tablets (p=0.0001), as well as the nutritional status of pregnant women (p=0.0001), have significant effect on newborns body length. Calcium and iron tablets supplementation improve the nutritional status of pregnant women and increase newborn body length. However, it should be measured by using same controlling variables such as education, age, parity, protein intake, vitamin C intake, knowledge and gestational age of childbirth. Keywords: supplement, pregnant, stunting, experimental INTRODUCTION Stunting is a public health issue in Indonesia that must be addressed. Malnutrition can cause stunting, particularly during the first 1000 days of life. Stunting affects children intelligence and health status as adults (Kementrian Kesehatan RI, 2018). Children nutritional intake must be fulfilled optimally, especially 1000 HPK, to grow up healthy and smart (Husnah, 2017). Stunted children tended to have a non-optimal metabolism and were prone to non-communicable diseases. Stunting inhibits physical growth, increases the risk of developing diseases and can inhibit cognitive development. It also affects productivity in adulthood (Kementrian Kesehatan RI, 2018). The stunting rate in Indonesia was 24.4% in 2021, and 21.1% in Bengkulu province (Kementrian Kesehatan RI, 2021). Pregnant women anemia and chronic lack of energy leads to high stunting rates. In 2018, 48.9% of pregnant women had anemia, and 17.3% had a chronic shortage of energy (Kemenkes, 2019). Efforts to overcome stunting need to be carried out as early as possible, starting when the mother is declared pregnant until the child reaches the age of two. Government has carried out a program of providing supplementary food for children and pregnant women, as well as the provision of iron tablets. In 2020, the proportion of pregnant women who received iron tablets in Bengkulu Province was 97%. Almost all districts and cities have achieved quite well, but there are districts with lower coverage than the coverage of Bengkulu Province, one of which is North Bengkulu Regency, by 87% (Badan Pusat Statistik Provinsi Bengkulu, 2021). Riyadi et al., Media Gizi Indonesia (National Nutrition Journal) Special Issue: The 2nd Bengkulu International Conference on Health (B-ICON 2022) 2023.18(1SP): 38–45 https://doi.org/10.20473/mgi.v18i1SP. 38–45 ©2023. The formal legal provisions for access to digital articles of this electronic journal are subject to the terms of the Creative Commons -Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Received 26-12-2022, Accepted 31-05-2023, Published online 29-06-2023.