Determination of Socio-Economic and Dietary Factors Influencing Anaemia among the Adolescent Girls in Kottayam District

Adolescence is a vulnerable period for the development of nutritional anaemia even in higher socio-economic status. Thus, the study aimed to explore in detail the incidence of anaemia among the adolescent girls of Kottayam district with reference to the socio-economic and dietary factors. The study was conducted on 500 adolescent girls (12-19 yrs) of Kottayam Taluk of Kottayam district in Kerala. Overall prevalence of anaemia was 57 per cent. More number (111, 55.0%) of the study respondents were found to have mild anaemia (10-11.9 g/dl), followed by 43.1 per cent were normal subjects (> 12 g/dl) and severe anaemia condition was not observed among the study respondents. Family income, religion, type of family and mother's education were not significantly related to anaemia. Iron and folic acid intake showed statistically significant correlation with haemoglobin levels.