Assessment of anaemia in adolescent girls
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18203/2320-1770.ijrcog20172944Keywords:
Adolescence, Anaemia, Maternal and foetal mortalityAbstract
Background: The world’s adolescent population is facing a series of serious nutritional challenges which are not only affecting their growth and development but also their livelihood as adults. Yet, adolescents remain a largely neglected, difficult to measure and hard to reach population, in which the needs of adolescent girls in particular, are often ignored. Anemia in adolescent girls contributes to maternal and foetal mortality and morbidity in future. The objective of the study was to estimate the frequency of anemia among adolescent girls, to study the socio-demographic factors associated with anemia and to evaluate the cause and type of anaemia.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in an urban area in a school. A total of 300 girls (12-18 years) were included in this study. Statistical analysis was done using percentage, standard error of proportion, Chi-square test and student’s t-test.
Results: The prevalence of anemia was found to be 90%. A significant association of anemia was found with socio-economic status and literacy status of parents. Mean height and weight of subjects with anemia was significantly less than subjects without anemia. A high prevalence of anemia among adolescent females was found, among those whose parents were less educated.
Conclusions: The overall prevalence of anemia among adolescent females was found to be 90%. There is significant association of anemia with socio-economic status and parents' educational status. There is need to increase awareness of anemia in adolescent girls and parents.
References
World Health Organization. Programming for adolescent health and development. WHO Tech Rep Ser No. 1996:2.
Chaudhary S, Dhage V. A study of anaemia among adolescent females in urban area of Nagpur, Indian J comm med. 2008;33(4):243-5.
Thomas D, Chandra J, Sharma S, Jain A, Pemde HK. Determinants of nutritional anemia in adolescents. Indian pediatrics. 2015;52(10):867-9.
Adolescent nutrition, Unicef India. 2013.. Available at http://unicef.in/Whatwedo/33/Adolescents-Nutrition.
Biradkar S, Biradkar S. Prevalence of Anaemia among Adolescent Girls: A One Year Cross-Sectional Study, J Clinic Diagnost Res. 2012 (Suppl-1);6(3):372-7.
Beard JL. Iron requirements in adolescent females. The J nutri. 2000;130(2):440S-2S.
Kulkarni MV, Durge PM, Kasturwar NB. Prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls in an urban slum. National J Comm Med. 2012;3(1):108-11.
Rawat CMS, Garg SK, Singh JV, Bhatnagar M, Chopra H, Bajai SK. Sociodemographic correlates of anemia among adolescent girls in rural district of Meerut. Indian J Community Med. 2001;26:173-5.
Rajaratnam J, Abel R, Asokan JS, Jonathan P. Prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls of rural Tamil Nadu. Indian Pediatr. 2000;37:532-6.
Tuteja GS, Singh P, Dhillon BS, Saxena BN, Ahmed FU, Singh RP, et al. Prevalence of anaemia among pregnant women and adolescent girls in 16 districts of India. Food Nutrition Bulletin. 2006;27:311-5.
Kotecha PV, Nirupam S, Karkar PD. Adolescent girls’ anaemia control programme, Gujarat, India. Indian J Med Res. 2009;130(5):584-9.
Sharma A, Prasad K, Rao KV. Identification of an appropriate strategy to control anemia in adolescent girls of poor communities. Indian Pediatrics. 2000;37(3):261-7.
Akramipour R, Rezaei M, Rahimi Z. Prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among adolescent schoolgirls from Kermanshah, Western Iran. Hematol. 2008;13(6):352-5.
Creed-Kanashiro HM, Uribe TG, Bartolini RM, Fukumoto MN, López TT, Zavaleta NM, et al. Improving dietary intake to prevent anemia in adolescent girls through community kitchens in a periurban population of Lima, Peru. The Journal of nutrition. 2000;130(2):459S-61S.
Bulliyy G, Mallick G, Sethy GS, Kar SK. Haemoglobin status of non-school going adolescent girls in three districts of Orissa, India. Int J Adolesc Med Health. 2007;19:395-406.
Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Adolescent Anaemia. 2013;13:18 IST.
Khanduri U, Sharma A. Megaloblasticanaemia: Prevalence and causative factors. Natl Med J India. 2007;20:172-5.
