Diet Assessment and Anaemia status among Adolescent School Going  Girls in Urban Chennai

Dr.D.Geetha; Dr.S.Anitha; Dr.D.Lakshmi

Volume : V, Issue : XII, December - 2016

Diet Assessment and Anaemia status among Adolescent School Going Girls in Urban Chennai

Dr. D. Geetha, Dr. S. Anitha, Dr. D. Lakshmi

Abstract :

Aim : To assess the diet profile and anaemia status among urban adolescent school going girls. Methodology: ?e study was conducted during January 2016–June 2016 (6 months duration) in schools in urban chennai. After obtaining informed consent, information regarding menstrual history, dietary intake (was assessed by 24 hours recall method),dietary nutrient intake, knowledge regarding iron–rich food and clinical examination of the selected participants was recorded in predesigned pre–tested sheet. Participants: 450 adolescent girls Study tools and technique: ?e questionnaire consists of sociodemographic data, menstrual history, dietary intake (was assessed by 24 hours recall method),dietary nutrient intake, and knowledge regarding iron–rich food and clinical examination of the selected participants. Hemoglobin was assessed by Sahli�s method. For the purpose of statistical analysis, those with hemoglobin <12g/dl were categorized as having anaemia and those with hemoglobin more than or equal to 12 g/dl were categorized as not having anaemia Results: ?e present study was conducted in different schools in urban chennai. It included a total of 450 adolescent girls, aged 11–17 years. Out of the 450 girls, 313 (69.55%) were in the age group of 11–14 years, whereas only 137(30.44%) were in the age group of 15–17 years. ?us, a majority of the girls were in the age group of 11–14 years. ?e mean height was 150.73 � 5.39 cms. ?e mean weight was 38.51� 9.45 kgs and the mean Body Mass Index (BMI) was 16.93� 3.44 kg/sqmt (Table–2). ?e overall prevalence of dietary insufficiency of iron was found to be present in 70.88% (319 out of 450) girls.(Table–1). Majority of them were in the age group 11–14 years. As per WHO criteria for Asian, 32.66% (147 out of 450) girls were underweight (BMI < 18.5 kg/mtsq). Adolescent girls who were categorized as overweight as per the criteria (BMI– 23 to 24.9 kg/mtsq) were 6.2% (28 out of 450). 87.5% of girls had mixed diet whereas only 12.5% of girls had vegetarian diet.(Table3). Diet profile showed high consumption of tea and coffee(78.4%),18.5% girls skipped eakfast. ?e symptoms were more common in girls with vegetarian diet (Paleness– 28.14%,weakness–44.3%) as compared in girls with mixed diet (Paleness–16.56% and weakness–33.8%).Significant association was found between dietary insufficiency of iron and presence of paleness