Abstract
Objectives: To study the prevalence of nutritional anaemia and its socioeconomic correlates in mid adolescent schoolgirls in Berhampur town, Odisha.
Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out in three schools in Berhampur town. The haemoglobin levels and other variables in 744 mid- adolescent girls (14- 16 yrs) from the three schools were collected and analysed by Karl Pearson Correlation test and Chi square test in SPSS 20.
Results: Nutritional anaemia was found to be prevalent in 52.01% of the subjects. Mild, moderate and severe anaemia were found in 29.1%, 19.5% and 3.4% of subjects respectively. Significant association (p< 0.05) was found between anaemia and normal & low body mass index (r = +0.69 and +0.83 respectively), anaemia and low & medium income group (r= +0.77 and +0.56, respectively), attainment of menarche, vegetarianism and without iron supplementation by government program. Even girls belonging to High income group and with high body mass index were found to be anaemic in > 40% of cases.
Discussion: Anaemia was found to be omnipresent across all the categories studied, but significant association was seen with low and normal body mass index, low and mid income groups, vegetarianism, having attained menarche and not receiving iron supplementation. Anaemia in mid adolescence, if left unattended, may have cascading negative influences on future pregnancies and progenies. Hence it is of paramount importance to address it at least before a girl enters into marriage and motherhood.
Keywords: Haemoglobin, Mid adolescence, BMI, Income group, Menarche, Iron supplementation.
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Corresponding Author
Jagatshreya Satapathy
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Mobile no: 9776979879
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v5i10.55
