Sociodemographic determinants in prevalence of anemia in adolescents of rural area of Maharashtra

Abstract

Introduction: Anemia is one of the most important health problems throughout the world. The prevalence of anemia among adolescents is 27% in developing countries, and 6% in developed countries. Aim: This study aims to assess the prevalence of anemia among adolescents of the age group of 10–15 years in rural population. Objectives: The objective is to study the prevalence of anemia in adolescents in the age group of 10–15 years. To correlate anemia with the socioeconomic status (SES) of adolescents. Materials and Methods: The study was a cross-sectional study of the Department of Pediatrics, AVBRH, Sawangi (Meghe), Wardha, which is tertiary care rural hospital catering western zone of Maharashtra. A total number of 1010 adolescents from the age group of 10–15 years of both sexes were included in the study. Results: In our study, we found that 61.19% of the total individuals were found to be anemic. The prevalence of anemia was 53.79% in boys and 71.7% in girls. Anemia was very common in adolescents from lower classes of SES. Conclusion: Adolescent nutrition should be viewed more seriously with adequate improvement in the standards of living, supplementary programs and timely health education.