Drinking water source and gut microbiota composition in stunted children living in Jakarta slum areas, isn't related?

The drinking water source is one factor related to microbiota composition and stunting. This study aims to analyze microbiota composition with the source of drinking water in stunted and non-stunted children under five in the slums of Jakarta. The number of subjects in this study was 42, consisting of 21 children in the stunted group and 21 in the non-stunted group. The sources of drinking water consumed in this study were water kiosks and branded drinking water. The microbiota composition was analyzed using Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) from subject feces samples. The results showed that the group consuming branded drinking water had a higher abundance of Odoribacter splanchnicus compared to the group that consumed water from kiosks. Overall, the group that consumed drinking water from water kiosks had a higher abundance of pathogenic microbiota compared to the group that consumed branded drinking water. In addition, in the stunted group, the abundance of pathogenic microbiota was higher than in the non-stunted group. This study showed that improving the quality of drinking water sources can be a key factor in improving the nutritional status of children.