Abstract

Stunting remains a significant chronic nutritional problem in Indonesia, particularly in remote communities such as Dunwahan Village, Southeast Maluku. Early detection using Z-Score (height-for-age) assessment is a critical strategy to identify children at risk of stunting before the condition becomes chronic. However, the knowledge and technical skills of posyandu cadres and parents in reading growth charts and calculating Z-Scores are often inadequate, resulting in delayed identification and intervention. This community service program was designed to enhance nutrition literacy through hands-on training in Z-Score calculation for posyandu cadres and mothers of children with stunting. A total of 12 participants engaged in a series of activities including education on stunting and Z-Score concepts, demonstration of anthropometric measurement techniques, practical exercises filling WHO growth charts, and case mentoring using participants’ child data. Evaluation employed pre-test and post-test assessments to measure knowledge change. Results indicated a marked improvement in participants’ abilities: prior to the intervention most participants could not correctly determine nutritional status based on Z-Score, whereas after training nearly all participants could independently classify children’s nutritional status (normal, at-risk, stunted). The intervention effectively strengthened community-level screening capacity, altered routine growth-monitoring practices at posyandu, empowered cadres as first-line detectors, and promoted active parental involvement. This model of practical, competency-based nutrition education shows promise for replication in other villages as part of national stunting prevention efforts. The findings support integrating practical nutrition education and technical training into field-level stunting prevention programs.