Effect of Supplementation of Lepidium sativum (Garden Cress Seed) Incorporated Chikkies on Tribal Anaemic Adolescent Girls (12-18 Years) in Nilgiris District

India has the highest prevalence of Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA), and 60-70 per cent of adolescent girls are being anaemic. Adolescence is considered as nutritionally critical period of life. The health of adolescent girls need special attention. To overcome this problem, food based approaches have been considered as the most acceptable, safe and sustainable approach. Keeping all these views in mind the present study was carried out. Ethical Approval for the study was obtained from the Universal Ethics Committee. Screening for Anaemia was done by assessing haemoglobin levels of 500 adolescent girls. From that 100 moderately anaemic adolescent girls (each 50 in experimental and control groups) were chosen for further study. The chikkies incorporated with Lepidium Sativum (Garden cress seeds) with other ingredients was supplemented to experimental group daily for a period of 3 months. Haematological parameters like HB, RBC, PCV, MCV, MCH was assessed both prior and after supplementation. Control group was given only plain chikkies without any incorporation. There was a significant improvement in haematological parameters like Hb, RBC, PCV, MCV, MCH in experimental group and there was no significant change in control group. It shows that incorporation of Lepidium Sativum seeds in foods has goodhealth impact.