A Community Trial Examining the Effectiveness of Iron-fortified Lentils to Improve Iron Status Among Bangladeshi Adolescent Girls: Results from a Baseline Survey (P10-099-19)

Abstract

ObjectivesDespite all efforts, iron deficiency (ID) and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) among adolescent girls remains a public health concern for Bangladesh. The objective of the current analysis was to examine baseline data from an effectiveness trial with the aim to compare prevalence of anemia, ID and IDA with Bangladesh’s National Micronutrients Status Survey 2011–12. MethodsA community-based, double-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial is being conducted among n = 1260 Bangladeshi adolescent girls (10–17 years). Treatment groups include: 1) Fe-fortified lentils; 2) unfortified lentils and 3) usual intake (no intervention). Within the lentil groups, participants are being served 250 g cooked lentils with half a cup of cooked rice 5 days/week for 85 feeding days. All Fe-fortification and processing of lentils were carried out at the University of Saskatchewan. Anemia, ID and IDA were defined according to WHO (2011) cut-off values. ResultsAt baseline, age of participants was 13.5 ± 2.0 years; BMI 18.2 ± 3.0 kg/m2 (or 38th percentile BMI-for-age); hemoglobin 12.4 ± 1.1 g/dL, serum ferritin 54.2 ± 36.3 ng/mL, sTfR 3.7 ± 2.6 μg/mL, and CRP 1.2 ± 3.9 mg/L. 26.6% girls were clinically anemic (non-pregnant-Hb <12 g/dl), 19.9% of those were mildly anemic (non-pregnant-Hb: 11–11.9 g/dl), 5.9% were moderately anemic (non-pregnant-Hb: 8.0–10.9 g/dl) anemic, and 0.8% were severely anemic (<8.0 g/dL). We found 9.2% of girls were ID (serum ferritin <15 μg/l). ConclusionsOne-fourth of rural Bangladeshi adolescent girls were anemic, and one-tenth were ID. This shows that rural anemia prevalence has increased ∼8.5% (26.6% vs 18.1%), ID has slightly increased (9.2% vs 10.0%) and IDA has increased (6.1% vs 1.8%) over the 7 years since the Bangladesh National Micronutrients Status Survey 2011–12. We can conclude from these baseline data that Bangladesh has made poor progress in reducing adolescent girls’ anemia with public policy efforts. Funding SourcesGlobal Institute for Food Security; Nutrition International.