Interprofessional Collaboration Approach as a Strategy for Stunting Prevention and Reduction: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Globally, stunting remains a health problem in children, with more than 149 million (22%) children worldwide experiencing stunting. The prevalence of stunting, despite a decline, has not yet reached the WHO target of less than 14%, a target set to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. Stunting is caused by chronic malnutrition, infection, poor sanitation, and poor parenting practices that occur in the first 1,000 days of life. Efforts to prevent and accelerate stunting reduction require a multisectoral and multi- stakeholder approach. Interprofessional collaboration is recognized as an important approach for the sustainability of stunting prevention and reduction programs. This scoping review aims to determine the existing evidence on interprofessional collaboration in stunting prevention and reduction, to determine implementation strategies, the impact of implementation, success factors, and challenges encountered in stunting intervention programs.

Method: The study design is a scoping review. This title was first checked in PROSPERO to identify any similar titles. The selection of research articles used in this scoping review was conducted through a search of articles published in the following databases: PubMed, SCOPUS, Science Direct, Proquest, Google Scholar, filtering articles published between 2015 and 2025. This review identified 3,513 articles, of which 18 met the inclusion criteria. The review identified several indicators of IPC success. Furthermore, IPC proved effective in improving mothers' and cadres' knowledge, attitudes about stunting, influencing stunting prevention behaviors, and uncovering several obstacles and challenges in interprofessional