Prevalence of anaemia among school going adolescent girls attending Test, Treat and Talk (T-3) camp under Anaemia Mukt Bharat in Delhi.

BACKGROUND

Adolescent period is signalized by marked physical activity and rapid growth spurt; therefore, they need additional nutritional supplements and are at utmost risk of developing nutritional anaemia. Anaemia play a major role in affecting the adolescents especially girls. On September 2019, Ministry of Health and Family welfare, Govt. of India directed to all state and district health authority to conduct Test, Treat and Talk (T-3) anaemia camps for celebration of nutrition month (Poshan Maah) in all government schools and colleges. The present study aimed to assess prevalence of anaemia and factors associated with it among school going adolescent girls attending T-3 camp in Delhi.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 203 adolescent girls in government girls' school in central district of Delhi. Hb estimation was done by HemoCue 201 and data regarding socio-demographic details, deworming, dietary preferences were collected. Clinical examination and anthropometric measurements were done by resident doctors. Data was analysed using STATA vs. 13.

RESULTS

The prevalence of anaemia was found to be 59% with mean (±SD) Hb of 11.3 gm/dl (±1.55) among 203 participants. The majority (48%, n = 119) of anaemic girls had mild degree of anaemia. Among 203 girls, 65% participants were of age 14-15 years with mean (±SD) age of 14.6 years (±1.18). There was a significant relationship between anaemia and diet, deworming status, and BMI (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that anaemia was highly prevalent among adolescent girls. Among anaemic girls, majority had mild anaemia. Factors like vegetarian diet, underweight, deworming and presence of pallor were found to be associated with anaemia. There is need to conduct T-3 camps at regular interval in all schools to curb the problem of adolescent anaemia.