Ghimire Milan, Bhandari Sheetal, Rajbanshi Manish
B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, Dharan, Nepal.
Central Department of Public Health, Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.
PLOS Glob Public Health. 2024 Sep 17;4(9):e0003684. doi: 10.1371/journal.pgph.0003684. eCollection 2024.
Adolescent girls are more vulnerable to anemia, especially in low and middle-income countries like Nepal. It is due to early marriage and pregnancy, rapid physical growth, low body weight, economic disparities, heavy menstrual bleeding, and inadequate iron diet. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of anemia and its associated factors among school-going adolescent girls. A cross-sectional study was conducted among 405 adolescent girls using a stratified random sampling technique from both public and private schools. A statistical analysis was performed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 software. The frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to describe the characteristics of the participants. Binary logistic regression was performed for multivariable analysis. All the tests were performed at a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and p-value of <0.05. The mean (± SD) age of the participants was 14.2 ± 1.2 years. The majority of the participants (64.7%) were from government schools. Around 18% (95% CI: 13.8, 21.2) of the participants were anemic in the study. Poor knowledge of anemia (AOR = 3.3, CI: 1.0, 11.1), incomplete iron and folic acid intake (AOR = 26.8, CI: 8.3, 86.4), and absence of dietary diversity (AOR = 2.5, CI: 1.1, 9.2) were significantly associated with the higher prevalence of anemia among the adolescent girls. To reduce the risk of anemia among adolescent girls, a comprehensive strategy involving a school health intervention package on anemia, IFA supplements, and deworming program should be promoted. Besides, community-focused awareness programs should be strengthened to increase dietary diversity and improve awareness of anemia in the community.
青春期女孩更容易患贫血症，尤其是在尼泊尔等低收入和中等收入国家。这是由于早婚早孕、身体快速生长、体重过低、经济差距、月经过多以及铁摄入不足的饮食。本研究旨在确定在校青春期女孩中贫血症的患病率及其相关因素。采用分层随机抽样技术，对405名来自公立和私立学校的青春期女孩进行了横断面研究。使用IBM社会科学统计软件包（SPSS）版本25软件进行统计分析。频率、百分比、均值和标准差用于描述参与者的特征。进行二元逻辑回归以进行多变量分析。所有测试均在95%置信区间（CI）和p值<0.05的情况下进行。参与者的平均（±标准差）年龄为14.2±1.2岁。大多数参与者（64.7%）来自政府学校。在该研究中，约18%（95%CI：13.8，21.2）的参与者患有贫血症。对贫血症的了解不足（比值比[AOR]=3.3，CI：1.0，11.1）、铁和叶酸摄入不完整（AOR=26.8，CI：8.3，86.4）以及缺乏饮食多样性（AOR=2.5，CI：1.1，9.2）与青春期女孩中贫血症的较高患病率显著相关。为降低青春期女孩患贫血症的风险，应推广一项综合战略，包括关于贫血症的学校健康干预方案、铁叶酸补充剂和驱虫计划。此外，应加强以社区为重点的宣传方案，以增加饮食多样性并提高社区对贫血症的认识。
