Does the Proximity of the Area Affect in Incidence of Stunting? : Study on Densely Populated Provinces in Indonesia

The prevalence of stunting in Indonesia is still above WHO standards, so it needs to be addressed immediately, given the adverse effects on individuals and countries. This study aims to analyze the incidence of stunting in East Java by paying attention to the proximity of the area as an effort to solved stunting problems. The study was conducted using secondary data from 2017 from official government agency reports. Administrative area (regency/city) analysis unit. Analysis using spatial regression test. The results show that Moran’s I test shows a spatial dependency or location autocorrelation (p <0.20). The Lagrange Multiplier SAR spatial regression test can explain that spatial factors can increase 5% greater (75%) of the 5 selected factors that cause toddler stunting, compared to using the OLS classic regression test. It could be concluded that spatial factors, namely geographic areas, can increase the percentage of clarity in the regression modeling for the incidence of stunting in an area. In this study, spatial factors are known to be associated with regional proximity and ethnic similarity, namely the Madurese ethnicity.