INTRODUCTION:

Nothing will benefit human health and increase the chances for survival of life on earth as much as the evolution to a new diet¹. Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood. A thorough understanding of adolescence in society depends on information from various perspectives, including psychology, biology, history, sociology, education, and anthropology². Anemia is one of the most important health problems throughout the world. Adolescent children are one of the major risk groups for anemia. The prevalence of anemia among adolescents is 27% in developing countries, and 6% in developed country³.

The world’s adolescent population is facing a series of serious nutritional challenges which are not only affecting their growth and development but also their livelihood as adults. Yet, adolescents remain a largely neglected, difficult- to- measure and hard to reach population, in which the needs of adolescent girls in particular, are often ignored⁴. Adolescent girls are at a high risk for anemia and malnutrition because of gender norms can leave girls disproportionately impacted by food insecurity, increased iron requirements related to their rapid growth, and menstrual loss. Inadequate nutrition during adolescence can have serious consequences throughout the reproductive years of life and beyond. Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in 2013 launched “National Iron Plus Initiative” as a comprehensive strategy to combat the public health challenge of Iron deficiency Anemia prevalent across the life cycle. There are age specific interventions with Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation and Deworming for improving the hemoglobin levels and reducing the prevalence of anemia for all age groups. The WHO/UNICEF statement on anemia underlines its multifactorial etiology hence the Group is now represented by diverse WHO programmes that need to address the prevention and control of anemia⁵.

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM:

A study to assess the prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls in a selected high school in Kottakkal with a view to prepare a module regarding prevention of anemia.

OBJECTIVES:

· To assess the prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls in selected high school in Kottakkal.

· To associate the prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls with selected socio-demographic variables.

ASSUMPTION:

· There is high incidence of anemia among adolescent girls.

· Adequate knowledge will help the adolescent girls to prevent incidence of anemia.

METHODOLOGY:

A quantitative approach non experimental univarient descriptive research design was choosen for the study. The sample comprised of 30 adolescent girls in a selected school in Kottakkal, Kerala, India by Non probability purposive sampling technique was used in this study. After taking the consent, Socio demographic data were assessed using socio-demographic performa: Checklist for assessing clinical features of anemia and Sahli’s hemometer for assessing hemoglobin level of adolescent girls.Data was analyzed and interpreted by using descriptive and inferential statistics.

ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION:

Section I: Distribution of socio demographic characteristics of adolescent girls (n=30)

Figure 1: Frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to age

Figure 1 shows that 36.7% adolescent girls belongs to age of 13 years, 33.3% belongs to age of 14 years, 13.3% belongs to age of 15 years and 16.70% belongs to age of 16 years.

(n=30)

Figure 2: frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to educational status

Figure 2 shows that 46.7% adolescent girls are studying in 8^th standard, 30% are studying in 10^th standard and remaining 23.3% are studying in 9^th standard.

Table 1 -Frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to religion, residence, type of Family and number of children, Health problems in Family, Fathers occupation, Monthly income, Educational status of parent, Preffered food habbit

Variable	Category	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Religion	islam	30	100%
	urban	16	53%
	Rural	14	47%
Type of family	joint	15	50%
	nuclear	15	50%
Number of children in family	two	5	16.7%
	three	16	53.3%
	Above three	9	30%
Health problems in family	Yes	27	90%
	no	3	10 %
Fathers occupation	Gov.job	1	3.3 %
	abroad	12	40 %
	others	17	56%
Monthly income	above 10000	1	3.33 %
	5000-10000	17	56 %
	10000-5000	5	16.7%
	10000-5000	4	6.7%
	below 1000	4	6.7%
Eduational status of parent	degree	17	56%
	Hss	6	20%
	Hs	4	24%
Preffered food habbit	Vegitarian	26	76 %
	Non Vegitarian	4	24%
Registration in anganwadi	yes	9	30%
Registration in anganwadi	no	21	70%
Availability of anganwadi supplies	proper	11	37%
Availability of anganwadi supplies	No proper	17	63%
Proper utilization anganwadi services	yes	9	30%
Proper utilization anganwadi services	no	21	70%
Participation in health programmes	Yes	25	83.3%
Participation in health programmes	no	5	16.7%

(n=30)

Figure 3 : frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to history of bleeding disorders

The diagram shows that 93.3% of adolescent girls have no history of bleeding disorders and 6.7% have history of bleeding disorders.

(n=30)

Figure 4: frequency and percentage distribution of adolescent girls according to fatigue during activities.

The diagram shows that 73.3% adolescent girls have fatigue during activities and 26.7% have no fatigue during activities.

Section II – Assessment of prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls by using structured interview

Table 2-Frequency and percentage distribution of prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls by using structured interview (n=30)

Prevalence of anemia	Frequency (f)	Percentage (%)
Mild	25	83.3 %
Moderate	5	16.7%

Section III – Association between prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls with selected sociodemographic variables.

Table 3- Association between prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls with selected sociodemographic variables such as age, standard, Residence, Type of famil y, number of members In family, any health problem in family, fathers occupation, monthly income, educational status of parent and participation in health programe, preferred food habbit,registration in anganwadi, availability of products, proper utilization of products, history of bleeding disorders, and fatigue during activities

Variables		Category		df	Chi square	P value
	Sevr undr wt	Modrt undr wt	Norm wt
Age in year
13 Years	8	2	1	1	0.008	0.928
14 Years	7	2	1
15 Years	3	1	0
16 Years	4	1	0
Standard
8^th std	10	3	1	1	0.0372	0.847
9^th std	6	2	1
Type of the family
Joint family	12	2	1	1	0.170	0.68
Nuclear family	10	4	1
Income of the family
Below 1000	1	0	0	1	0.982	0.321
1000–5000	0	1	1
5000–10000	4	1	0
Above 10000	17	4	0
Occupation of the parent
Abroad	8	2	2	1	0.00077	0.978
Gov.job	1	0	0
others	13	4	0
Residence
urban	14	2	0	1	0.410	0.521
Rural	10	2	2
Number of members In family
1				1	0.982	0.321
2	5	0	0
3	12	3	1
>3	5	3	1
Any health problem in family
Yes	20	5	2	1	0.170	0.68
no	2	1	0
Educational status of parent
Degree	15	2	0	1	0.856	0.354
Hss	4	2	0
Hs	3	2	0
Participation in health programe
Yes	21	4	0	1	5.72	0.016*
No	1	2	2
Preferred food habbit
Vegitarian	5	2	0	1	0.128	0.72
Non vegitarian	17	4	2
Registration in Anganwadi
yes	7	2	0	1	0.008	0.928
No	15	4	2
Availability of Products
proper	10	3	0	1	0.0007	0.978
Non proper	12	3	2	1	0.0007	0.978
Proper utilization of products
Yes	7	2	0	1	0.008	0.928
No	15	4	2	1	0.008	0.928
History of bleeding disorders
Yes	21	4	0	1	0.170	0.68
no	1	2	2	1	0.170	0.68
Fatigue during activities
Yes	15	5	2	1	0.349 0.554	0.554
No	7	1	0	1	0.349 0.554	0.554