Spatial Analysis of Seven Islands in Indonesia to Determine Stunting Hotspots

Abstract

Indonesia is a vast country struggling to reduce its stunting prevalence. Hence, identifying priority areas is urgent. In determining areas to prioritize, one needs to consider geographical issues, particularly correlations among areas. This study aimed to discover whether stunting prevalence in Indonesia occurs randomly or in clusters; and, if it occurs in clusters, which areas are the hotspots. This ecological study used aggregate data from the 2018 National Basic Health Research and Poverty Data and Information Report from the Statistics Indonesia. This study analyzed 514 districts/cities across 34 provinces on seven main islands in Indonesia. The method used was the Euclidean distance to define the spatial weight. Moran's index test was used to identify autocorrelation, while a Moran scatter plot was applied to identify stunting hotspots. Autocorrelation was found among districts/cities in Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and Bali East Nusa Tenggara West Nusa Tenggara Islands, resulting in 133 districts/cities identified as stunting hotspots on four major islands. Autocorrelation proves that stunting in Indonesia does not occur randomly.