A Comparative Study of Prevalence of Anemia and Its Risk Factors Among School-Going Adolescent Girls in the Field Practice Areas of Medical College in Gautam Buddha Nagar District

Abstract

Objectives: (1) The study was to determine the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among adolescent girls in the field practice areas of a medical college of GautamBuddha Nagar district and (2) to assess the risk factors associated with iron deficiency anemia among adolescent girls in the field practice areas of a medical college of GautamBuddha Nagar district. Methods: A school-based cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls of the field practice areas of the medical college of Gautam Buddha Nagar District. The sample size came out to be 236. One school each from RHTC and UHTC was selected randomly, and all adolescent girls were enrolled in the study. Results: The present study was conducted on 684 adolescent females (251 from RHTC and 433 from UHTC) in our study period of 3 months. The prevalence of anemia in the whole population was 42%, 54.5% among rural and 35.5% of adolescents in urban area were found to be anemic at the time of the study. The factors that were found to be significantly associated with adolescent anemia were age of onset of menarche, history of albendazole intake, residing in joint family, and lower socioeconomic status. Conclusion: The prevalence was high among girls who were above 16 years of age and girls who belonged to lower socio-economic groups and belonging to rural area. There is a need for a regular supply of iron and folic acid tablets and for improving medication adherence regarding consuming these tablets among adolescent girls and also about the dietary advice.