A Descriptive Study to Assess the Knowledge and Prevalence of Nutritional Anemia among Adolescent Girls 14–18 Years in a Selected Educational Institution at Mangalore

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study to identify the knowledge and prevalence of nutritional anemia among adolescent girls 14–18 years. Materials and Methods: The investigator has adopted a descriptive survey approach to find out the knowledge and prevalence of nutritional anemia among adolescent girls. The sample comprised 60 adolescent girls between the age group of 14–18 years. Sample was selected using nonprobability, convenient sampling technique was used. Data were collected multifactor knowledge questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. In that Chi-square test for association of knowledge and prevalence of anemia with their selected demographic variables. Results: The results of this study showed that, majority of the subjects (73%) had moderate knowledge of anemia, 22% had poor knowledge, and only 5% of them had good knowledge of anemia. The prevalence of anemia in adolescent girls was 56% with mild anemia 27%, moderate 17% had severe anemia. Investigator found the positive correlation between the knowledge scores and Hb level, that is, r = 0.342 and negative correlation between the Hb level and the BMI level. The value was found to be −0.0868. There is a no association between the prevalence of anemia and demographic variables and also there is a no association between knowledge on anemia and demographic variables. Conclusion: The findings were concluded that majority of respondents had moderate knowledge related to anemia and the prevalence of anemia in girls was mild were as there is positive correlation between the knowledge level and the level of Hb.