Background
Anaemia is a public health concern affecting both developed and developing countries with significant consequences for both human health as well as social and economic development. Unfortunately, the anaemia intervention program, such as the National Nutrition Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme, mostly targets infants, young children, pregnant and lactation women, and not adolescents. Therefore, this study tries to fill this gap, aimed to study the prevalence of anaemia and the associated factors among adolescent boys and girls residing in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, India.
Methods
Secondary data analysis was performed on cross-sectional survey data from the Understanding the Lives of Adolescents and Young Adults (UDAYA) project survey. Three levels of severity of anaemia were distinguished: mild anaemia, moderate anaemia, and severe anaemia. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were used to find the preliminary results. To provide the adjusted estimates for the analysis, multinomial regression analysis was carried out.
Results
Overall, a higher percentage of adolescent girls suffered from mild (42% vs. 23.7%) and moderate/severe (20% vs. 8.7%) anemia compared to the adolescent boys. Moderate/severe anemia was 0.24 and 0.49 times less likely among adolescent boys and girls, respectively, who had 10 & above years of schooling than adolescents with no schooling (p < 0.01). Rural adolescent boys were 1.22 (p < 0.10) and 1.49 times (p < 0.05) more likely to suffer from mild and moderate/severe anemia, respectively, compared to urban counterparts.
Conclusion
Anaemia among adolescents must be addressed through effective public health policy targeting adolescents residing in poor households and rural areas. There is a need to disseminate information about anaemia through mass media, and subsequently, the public health system may be prepared to tailor the needs of adolescent boys and girls.