Magnitude of Anemia Vis-a-Vis Nutrition Knowledge Status (NKS), Dietary Diversity Score (DDS) and Body Mass Index for Age (BAZ) Score of School-Going Adolescent Girls at Border-Belt of Indian Punjab

Anemia is major deficiency disorder among women of every age in developing countries attributed to diverse array of factors. The present study aimed at assessing magnitude of anemia and its association with nutrition knowledge, dietary diversity and Body Mass Index z scores. Hence, a cross-sectional study was conducted at Government School, Harike Pattan, District Tarn Taran, a rural area of border-belt of Indian Punjab. A total number of 32 adolescent girls, were randomly selected from 9th to 12th standard. Adolescent girls were assessed for their hemoglobin level by cyanmethaemoglobin method. Nutrition knowledge of adolescent girls was appraised via incorporating a questionnaire containing multiple choice questions. Assessment of their dietary lifestyle was completed through recording Dietary Diversity Score (DDS), frequency of major meals and food combinations. Results showed that mild, moderate and severe anemia was present among 28, 59 and 13 per cent adolescent girls, respectively. Low mean hemoglobin level (9.9 g/dl) was significantly (p< 0.05) associated with poor NKS, DDS, skipping of major meals, higher frequency of faulty food combination and lower practice of good food combination among adolescent girls. Further, it was observed that 65.6 per cent of total adolescent girls had abnormal BAZ score ranging from <-2SD to >+2SD (i.e. moderate thinness to obese), which represented a disproportion in age-specific anthropometric measurements. In view of above figures, it is strongly recommended that nutrition knowledge of adolescent girls with regard to dietary diversification and appropriate food combinations should be strengthened at school level so as to ensure normal hemoglobin level.