Efficacy of dietary counselling and supplementation on the haematological profiles of selected anaemic adolescent girls

Sixty anaemic adolescent girls of 13–15 years were selected from the Government School No. 5, College Road, Ludhiana to study the impact of dietary counselling (DC) and supplementation on their nutritional status. Subjects were divided into two groups (A & B) of 30 subjects each. All the subjects were imparted DC, while subjects in Group B were provided with iron supplements, in the form of tablets once a week. The daily intake of energy, protein, iron and ascorbic acid before DC was below the recommendations. After DC a significant (P=0.05) increase in nutrient intake was observed in both the groups. Clinical symptoms of anaemia reduced in both the groups after DC but reduction was more pronounced in Group B as compared to Group A. The mean values of Hb level of Group A, and B before and after DC were 9.0 and 9.9 g/dl; 8.8 and 10.7 g/dl, respectively. Increase was significant in both Group A (p=0.05) and Group B (p=0.01). PCV and MCHC increased significantly only in Group B. Thus, a more positive picture of haematological profile was observed in the subjects of Group B, which can be attributed to iron supplementation.