Prevalence and determinants of Anaemia among Adolescent Girls in slums of Kanpur Nagar: A community-based cross-sectional study

Introduction: Adolescence is very crucial phase of life because these are those formative years of the life of an individual when marked physical, psychological and behavioural changes takes place. More than 243 million adolescents reside in India, which account for one fourth of the country's total population. In UP there are 12.9% adolescents in age group of 10-14 years and 11.5% in 15-19 years, among which the majority are girls. Anaemia account for one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality among the adolescent girls. Objectives: 1. To find out the prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls. 2. To study the bio-social and other determinants of anaemia. Materials and Method: A community based cross-sectional study was carried out among adolescent girls (10-19 years) in slums of Kanpur Nagar, using 30 cluster sampling technique. From each slum, 13 subjects were studied, thus giving a total sample size of 390. A pre-designed and pre-tested questionnaire was used to elicit the required information from the study subjects. Haemoglobin estimation by Sahli's method was done. Percentages, Chi square test and SPSS software was used for the analysis of data. Results: The mean age of study population was 13±2years.Anaemia was found in 71.79% of adolescent girls. About 64.1% of anaemic girls belonged to early adolescent (10-14 years) age group whereas 41.1% of the anaemic girls were in late adolescent (15-19 years) age group. Mild anaemia was the most prevalent type in the study subjects i.e. 41.28% while moderate and severe anaemia was present in 23.59% and 6.92% respectively. Prevalence of anaemia was most common (73.82%) in the Social class V. Association of anaemia with social class was statistically significant. Anaemia was higher in adolescents who have attained menarche. Anaemia was also found significantly associated with dietary habits. Conclusion: 71.79% of adolescent girls were found to be anaemic, with mild anaemia being most common followed by moderate and severe anaemia. Prevalence of anaemia was more in study subjects belonging to early adolescent age group, joint families and lower social class.