PREVALENCE OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA IN YOUNG ADOLESCENT GIRLS AT UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR

Authors

  • Fazia Ghaffar
  • Falahat Waqar

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69656/pjp.v14i3.906

Keywords:

Anaemia, Haemoglobin, Hb, Serum Iron, Haematocrit, Anthropometry, Dietary pattern

Abstract

Background: Anaemia is one of the most frequent and important health problems among the adolescent girls throughout the world. Iron deficiency anaemia constitutes major anaemia due to rapid growth, hormonal changes, menarche, and malnutrition due to poor dietary intakes. The current study was designed to investigate the role of dietary intake patterns in prevalence of anaemia among the teenage girls residing in hostels. Methods: A convenient random sample of 237 college/undergraduate students residing at girls’ hostels was subjected to anthropometry, biochemical tests for blood iron indices, and dietary intake analysis. Results: Normal mean anthropometric measurements were observed among the sampled students. Sixty-one percent (61%) of girls had haemoglobin (Hb) level below normal, 85% had low haematocrit percent and 82% had low serum iron. The highest category of sub normal Hb level was in the range of 9–11.9 g/dl (48%), haematocrit 25–29.9% (52%), and Serum iron 26–35 µg/dl (34%). The daily dietary intake pattern showed good breakfast consumption (82%), snacking on fried and starchy foods and carbonated beverages a common practice, and skipping of major meals a regular feature. Cereals and grains based diets and lack of fresh fruits and vegetables were found to be contributing factors to the gross prevalence of anaemia among this age group. Conclusion: Anaemia is the most prevalent dietary deficiency disorder among undergraduate students mainly caused by poor dietary intake patterns.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. World Health Organization. Iron deficiency anaemia situation in this region. World Health Organization, Regional office for Eastern Pacific. 2005. Available from: www.who.int/nutrition/ publications/micronutrients/anaemia-iron-deficiency
2. Tiwari K, Seshadri S. The prevalence of anaemia and morbidity profile among school going adolescent girls of urban Kathmandu. Nepal. J Nepal Med Assoc 2000;39:319–25.
3. Fomon SJ, Drulis JM, Nelson SE, Serfass RE, Woodhead JC, Ziegler EE. Inevitable iron loss by human adolescents with calculations of the requirements for absorbed iron. J Nutr 2003;133(1):167–72.
4. Leenstra T, Petersen LT, Kariuki SK, Oloo AJ, Kager PA, ter Kuile FO. Prevalence and severity of malnutrition and age at menarche; cross-sectional studies in adolescent schoolgirls in western Kenya. Eur J Clin Nutr 2005;59(1):41–8.
5. Bothwell TH, Charlton RW, Cook JD, Finch CA. Iron Metabolism in Man. Exp Physiol 1980;65(3):255–6.
6. Sen A, Kanani SJ. Deleterious functional impact of anaemia on young adolescent school girls. Indian Pediatr 2005;43:219–26.
7. World Health Organization. Indicators and strategies for iron deficiency anaemia programs. WHO Technical Report Serial No. 854. Geneva, Switzerland: WHO; 1994.
8. Soleimani N, Naser Abbaszadeh N. Relationship between anaemia, caused from the iron deficiency, and academic achievement among third grade high school female students. Procedia Soc Behav Sci 2011;29:1877–84.
9. Hélène D, World Health Organization. Dept. of Nutrition for Health and Development. (‎2005)‎. Nutrition in adolescence: issues and challenges for the health sector: issues in adolescent health and development. Geneva: World Health Organization 2005. Available from: http://www.who.int/iris/handle/ 10665/43342
10. Srinivas V, Mankeshwar R. Prevalence and determinants of nutritional anaemia in an urban area among unmarried adolescent girls: A community-based cross-sectional study. Int J Med Public Health 2015;(4):283–8.
11. Afsrjany F, Golestan B, Derakhshani K. Is teenage girls’ knowledge of the anthropometric and nutrition desirable? Shahid Beheshti Univ Med Sci J 2006;10(3):183–9.
12. Jafari-Rad S, Keshavarz AHS. Anthropometric status and nutrient intake in adolescent girls aged 14 to 18. Sari Payesh 2006;4(3):217–23.
13. Hanan S, Gilani AH, Haq IU. Anaemia in adolescent college girls: Effects of age nutritional status and nutrient intake. Pak J Sci 2010;62(4): 207–10.
14. Sultan AH. Anaemia among female college students at university of Sharjah: prevalence and classification. J Egypt Pub Health Assoc 2007;82(3-4):261–71.
15. National Nutrition Survey of Pakistan. 2011. www.mhinnovation.net/.../Pakistan National Nutrition Survey 2011.pdf
16. Akramipour R, Rezaei M, Rahimi Z. Prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia among adolescent schoolgirls from Kermanshah, Western Iran. Hematology 2008;13(6):352–5.
17. Baldini M, Pasqui F, Bordoni A, Maranesi M. Is the Mediterranean lifestyle still a reality? Evaluation of food consumption and energy expenditure in Italian and Spanish university students. Public Health Nutr 2009;12(2):148–55.
18. Wengreen HJ, Moncur C. Change in diet, physical activity, and body weight among young-adults during the transition from high school to college. Nutr J 2009;8:32.
19. Huang TT, Harris KJ, Lee RE, Nazir N, Born W, Kaur H. Assessing overweight, obesity, diet, and physical activity in college students. J Am Coll Health 2003;52(2):83–6.
20. Azadbakht L, Haghighatdoost F, Feizi A, Esmaillzadeh A. Breakfast eating pattern and its association with dietary quality indices and anthropometric measurements in young women in Isfahan. Nutrition 2013;29(2):420–5.
21. Stevens GA, Finucane MM, De-Regil LM, Paciorek CJ, Flaxman SR, Branca F, et al. Global, regional, and national trends in hemoglobin concentration and prevalence of total and severe anaemia in children and pregnant and non-pregnant women for 1995–2011: a systematic analysis of population-. Lancet Glob Health 2013;1(1):e16–25.
22. World Health Organization. Prevention of iron deficiency anaemia in adolescents. Role of weekly iron and folic acid supplementation. Child and adolescent health and development. 2011. Available from: http://www.searo.who.int/entity/ child_adolescent/documents/sea_cah_2/en/
23. Akhtar P, Mohammad D, Orfi SD, AhmadN, Rehman K. Assessment of daily iron intake for Pakistani population. J Nutr Food Sci 2005;35(2):109–17.
24. Lazarou C, Panagiotakos DB, Matalas AL. Level of adherence to the Mediterranean diet among children from Cyprus: the CYKIDS study. Pub Health Nutr 2009;12:991–1000.
25. Lynch SR. Ascorbic acid and iron nutrition. ASDC J Dent Child 1981;48(1):61–3.
26. Downey G, Connolly JF, Higgins I. Carbohydrate consumption and selected anthropometric indicators among volunteer family groups in Ireland. Ir J Food Sci Tech 1988;12(1-2):1–11.
27. Thankachan P, Muthayya S, Waleczyk T, Kurpad AV, Hurrell RF. An analysis of aetiology of anaemia and iron deficiency in young women of low socioeconomic status in Bangalore, India. Food Nutr Bull 2007;28(3):328–36.
28. Alzaheb RA, Al-Amer O. The prevalence of iron deficiency anaemia and its associated risk factors among a sample of female University students in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Clin Med Insights Womens Health 2017;10:1179562X17745088.
Pak J Physiol 2018;14(3)

Downloads

Published

20-08-2018

How to Cite

1.
Ghaffar F, Waqar F. PREVALENCE OF IRON DEFICIENCY ANAEMIA IN YOUNG ADOLESCENT GIRLS AT UNIVERSITY OF PESHAWAR. Pak J Phsyiol [Internet]. 2018 Aug. 20 [cited 2024 Nov. 21];14(3):33-6. Available from: https://pjp.pps.org.pk/index.php/PJP/article/view/906

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2018): Pakistan Journal of Physiology

Section

Original Article

License

Pakistan Journal of Physiology, Pak J Physiol, PJP is FREE for research and academic purposes. It can be freely downloaded and stored, printed, presented, projected, cited and quoted with full reference of, and acknowledgement to the author(s) and the PJP. The contents are published with an international CC-BY-ND-4.0 License.