Risk factors associated with anaemia among adolescent girls: a cross sectional study in District Peshawar, Pakistan.

Abstract

To assess the risk factors associated with anaemia among adolescent girls. The cross-sectional study was conducted at 10 schools in district Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, and comprised adolescent girls aged 10-14 years who were divided into two equal groups on the basis of haemoglobin levels; group 1 had those with haemoglobin <12, and group 2 12gm/dl. Anthropometric measurements were taken and haemoglobin concentration was determined by the Hemo'cue method. Physical activity was determined by Modified Harvard step test, cognitive functions were assessed by Raven's Coloured Progressive Matrices. SPSS 16 was used for data analysis. Of the 100 subjects, 50(50%) each were in the two groups. Illiteracy rate was significantly higher among the fathers and mothers of group 1 girls (p0.05). Mean haemoglobin in group 1 was 10.28±1.33 g/dl and group 2 12.73±0.58 g/dl. Mean number of steps climbed by group 1 girls were 154.6±54.6 and a longer period of time was taken to recover the basal pulse rate by them compared to group 2 counterparts (p0.05). The mean resting pulse rate in group 1 was significantly higher compared to group 2 (p0.05). Also, group 1 scored significantly lower in the cognitive function test(p0.05). Socio-economic status, parent education, body mass index, physical work capacity, cogn itive func tion of anaemic girls was significa ntly lower than non anaemic girls.