Prevalence of Anaemia among Adolescent Girls on Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) and Non WIFS Group in Rural Schools of Mangalore, Karnataka; a Comparative Study

Shahul  Hameed; Gousiya Mubashireen  Muskan; Chethana  K; Kiran  KG

doi:10.55489/njcm1322022159

Authors

Shahul Hameed Department of Community Medicine, Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka
Gousiya Mubashireen Muskan Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka
Chethana K Department of Community Medicine, Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka
Kiran KG Department of Community Medicine, Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, Karnataka

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55489/njcm1322022159

Keywords:

Adolescent, Anaemia, Weekly iron and folic acid supplementation, School

Abstract

Background: Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme is an initiative to decrease the burden of anaemia among adolescents studying in Government schools.

Objective: To assess the difference in prevalence of anaemia among Government school-going adolescents girls on WIFS as compared to private school girls not on WIFS.

Methods: Cross-sectional study was conducted among adolescent girls, 7^th to 10th standard in Government schools (on WIFS) and private schools (not on WIFS). The sample size in each group was 104, selected by multi-stage sampling. Data was collected using semi-structured questionnaire, clinical examination and haemoglobin estimation. Chi-square test and Unpaired t test used to compare the categorical and continuous variables respectively.

Results: The prevalence of anaemia among the school children in government schools was 51% and in the private schools it was 64.4%. The mean haemoglobin was 11.77 ± 1.41 and 11.34 ± 1.49 in government and private school girls, respectively, which was statistically significant (p=0.013).

Conclusions: The prevalence of anaemia among the government school girls was lesser as compared to the private schools girls, suggesting the role of WIFS in the reduction of prevalence of anemia. WIFS programme may be extended to private schools as well.

References

Siva PM, Sobha A, Manjula VD. Prevalence of Anaemia and Its Associated Risk Factors Among Adolescent Girls of Central Kerala. J Clin Diagn Res2016;10(11):19-23.

Kumar MGH, Patnaik S, Selvaraj K, Anbalagan J.Evaluation of Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation Program for Adolescents in Rural Kanchipuram, India.Nat J Res Communi-ty Med 2018;7(2):101-3.

Kumar A, Goyal A, Verma N, Mahesh A. Study of anemia among adolescent school girls and young adults. Int J Adv Med 2018;5:877-81.

Sarada AK, Thilak SA. Evaluation of Weekly Iron and Folic Ac-id Supplementation Programme for adolescents in rural schools of Kannur, North Kerala, India: A Cross-sectional Study. Int J Med Sci Public Health 2016;5:2259-63

Governnment of India.NHM.Guide for training master train-ers on wifs.pdf [cited 2021 Jan 19] Available from: http://nhm.gov.in/nrhmcomponnets/reproductive-childhealth/adolescent-health/wifs.html

Bellad A, Kapil R, Gupta A. National Guidelines for Prevention and Control of Iron Deficiency Anemia in India.Indian J Comm Health 2017; 30(1):89-94.

Priya SH, Datta SS, Bahurupi YA, Narayan KA, Nishanthini N, Ramya MR. Factors influencing weekly iron folic acid sup-plementation programme among school children: Where to focus our attention?. Saudi J Health Sci 2016;5:28-33.

Nutrition and Anaemia; NFHS-3. Karnataka. Report 2005-2006: Vol 1. 2008: 89. [cited 21.04.2021]. Available from rchiips.org/nfhs/NFHS-3 Data/Karnataka_report.pdf

Shah SP, Shah P, Desai S, Modi D, Desai G, Arora H. Effective-ness and Feasibility of Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supple-mentation to Adolescent Girls and Boys through Peer Educa-tors at Community Level in the Tribal Area of Gujarat. Indian J Community Med. 2016;41(2):158-61.

Rakesh P. S., Rajeswaran T, Rakesh R., Gigil M., Sheeja A. L., Subhagan S., et al. 2015. Anaemia among schoolchildren from southern Kerala, India: a cross‐sectional study. Natl Med. J. 2015;28:225–7.

Angadi N, Balu PS. Effectiveness of Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supple- mentation Programme to Control Anemia among Ru-ral Adolescent School Girls of Davangere, Karnataka. Natl J Community Med 2019;10(8):479- 482

Prayag A, Ashtagi GS, Mallapur MD. A Study on Assessment of Severity of Anaemia among Urban and Rural Children of Bela-gavi, Karnataka. Ntl J Community Med 2016; 7(8):708-11.

Subramanian M, Malhotra S, Kant S, Goswami K, Perumal V, Kaloiya G. Prevalence of Anemia Among Adolescent Girls Re-siding in Rural Haryana: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study. Cureus 2022;14(1): e21091.