To Study the Prevalence of Anemia and Related Biosocial Factors among College going Adolescent Girls in Urban Agra

Although many micronutrients and co-factors are involved in the maintenance of normal hemoglobin concentration, the most common deficiency from public health point of view is iron deficiency. WHO estimates that more than 2 billion people worldwide and more than half of the population in India, is anemic.

To find the prevalence of IDA in College Going Adolescent Girls of urban Agra and find its co relation with other biosocial factors.

A quasi-experimental study was conducted among college going girls in Agra in the age group of 16–19 years (n=300) who were randomly selected. Information regarding the biosocial profile of the girls was collected on a semistructured proforma. Their Hemoglobin levels were estimated by the Cynmeth-hemoglobin method using Drabkin's solution.

The overall prevalence of anemia was 65.3%, about three-forth (71.4%) of them were suffering from mild anemia whereas about one forth (24.5%) had moderate anemia and 4.1% were severely anemic. Overall prevalence of anemia is found to be statistically significant with education of mothers, vegetarian diet.

The prevalence of anemia in adolescent girls is high. Iron Deficiency Anemia is a condition where a person has inadequate amounts of iron in the blood to meet body demands.