Factors Influencing Anaemia among Adolescent Girls from Urban Slums of Hyderabad - A Cross Sectional Cohort Study

Background: In India, Iron deficiency anemia affects an estimated 50% of the population. In Andhra Pradesh, overall 50% of women have some degree of anemia. Adolescent girls are highly susceptible to anemia which is responsible for unwanted happening following delivery. This study was undertaken with the objectives of (i) identifying factors responsible for anemia in adolescent girls (ii) To promote safe mother hood by reducing anemia in adolescent girls.

Methodology: This is cross sectional, cohort study. The survey was carried out in 2 urban slums (Jangayya Nagar and NTR Nagar) of Hyderabad, India. The study group was formed of 300 adolescent girls and was followed for a period of 6 months from June 2010 to November 2010.The tool was a proforma which attempted to capture both qualitative and quantitative data. The data was entered on MS Excel and was analyzed using SPSS version software.

Results: The prevalence of anemia among literate girls was 77.3% while in illiterate girls it was 90%, among premenarcheal girls 31.6% where as for post menarcheal girls it was 48.3%, among the girls with < 38 kg weight it was 46.6% while in girls with > 38 kg it was 39.33% and in girls with BMI > 18.5 kg/m2 it was 21%. Out of 34 married adolescent girls 85.29 % were anaemic and 14.7% were non anaemic.

Conclusion: Improvement of literacy status is needed. All post Menarcheal girls should be supplemented with Iron and Folic acid tablets. Annual examination of blood for Hemoglobin percentage and stool for Helminthes infestation should be undertaken with periodic Deworming. Health education on the causation and prevention of anemia should be given to the community.