Asian Journal of Multidimensional Research (AJMR)

Objective of the study is to assess the knowledge about nutrition and prevalence of anemia among primigravida mothers. For this descriptive quantitative study 112 pregnant women were selected by purposive random sampling method from Lakshana clinic of Kancheepuram district., Prevalence of anemia was diagnosed by examining the blood samples of the subjects during their first trimester. Anaemia was classified as mild, moderate and severe as per the World Health Organization criteria. Socio-demographic details and Knowledge level about nutrition was assessed by personal interview using pre-structured questionnaire. Data were obtained after getting consent from the subjects and analyzed statistically using Percentage. Results of the study showed that 42% of samples had normal hemoglobin level. Among 58% of anemic samples, 33.0% had mild anaemia, 27.68% had moderate anemia and 1.7% had severe anemia. Regarding subjects educational level 90.18% had secondary level education and there were no illiterates. Results on knowledge level of nutrition among pregnant women showed that 73% of the subjects were aware about what is anemia, majority of 81% were aware about weight gain during pregnancy, majority of 91% were aware about increased nutritional intake during pregnancy, 31%were not aware that coffee or tea consumption will inhibit iron absorption, 81% were aware about food rich sources of calcium and only 48% were aware about iron rich food sources. The study concluded that though there were no illiterates among the samples prevalence of anemia was found among 58% of the subjects. Knowledge about nutrition and anemia was also not satisfactory. Anemia is a major nutritional problem during pregnancy. Good nutritional habits and knowledge about nutrition and anemia have impact not only in women but also among children so proper nutrition education and counseling is essential for all women especially for primigravida mothers.