Title: Evaluation of Nutritional Status of College Girl Students in terms of Haemoglobin levels and BMI
Authors: A. Sai Padma, M.K. Sukumaran, S. Padma, D. Rajani, S. Vanitha
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v4i9.84
Background: Anemia is a condition that develops when blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells or hemoglobin. Due to high demands for the requirement of iron and other micronutrients as well loss of blood during menstruation, the college going girls of age group between18 and 22 are at major risk of nutritional anaemia. On the other hand, change in life style habits and diet leads to the prevalence of obesity and being increased in developing countries worldwide. Objective: The aim of the present study was to determine the levels of haemoglobin and Body Mass Index (BMI) for the college girls as this will help in assessing their health status with respect to anaemia and obesity. Methods: 200 girl students of age group 18-22 years were evaluated for hemoglobin levels and 195 of the same students for their BMI levels. Results: The haemoglobin levels ranged between 7.2 to 14.9 g/dL. The percentage of students with severe, moderate, mild and non–anaemia were 1.5, 18.5, 20.5 and 59.5% respectively. These results clearly suggested that 39% of the graduate girl studentswere having mild to moderate anemia and 1.5% girls were severely anaemic. The BMI values have shown that 55.38% students belonged to the normal weight category, 17.44% were underweight,16.92% were overweight and 10.23% were obese. Conclusion: This study has clearly shown that early detection and effective awareness programs are very much necessary to educate the college girl students in managing conditions like anemia, obesity and other related health complications. Keywords: Anemia, college girls, BMI, Obesity.
Abstract