Dietary pattern, nutritional status, anaemia and anaemia-related knowledge in urban adolescent college girls of Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVES: To examine dietary pattern and nutritional status of adolescent college girls of Dhaka, Bangladesh with a particular focus on the prevalence of anaemia and appropriate knowledge about it among them.

METHODS: A cross sectional study was conducted. Sixty-five adolescent girls aged 15-19 years were selected randomly from Home Economics college of Dhaka. A 7-day food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the dietary pattern. Nutrient intake of the participants was assessed by 24h recall method.

RESULTS: Habitual dietary pattern indicated poor consumption of milk, liver and leafy vegetables. Food intake data revealed a deficit of 473 kcal/day in energy. Mean intake of carbohydrate and fat were lower than RDA; while protein, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C intakes were much higher. Anthropometric data indicated that 63% of the girls were stunted (height-for-age < 95% of NCHS reference values) and 45% were underweight (weight-for-age < 75% of NCHS reference values). The prevalence of anaemia (Hb < 12 g/dl) among the participants was 23%. About 17% had low serum iron (< 40 microg/dl), 23% showed evidence of iron-deficient erythropoiesis (Transferrin Saturation < 15%) and only 8% had vitamin C deficiency (< 0.29 mg/dl). About 65% of the participants had correct knowledge about the causes of anaemia; while 72.3% and 80% respectively, knew about the prevention and treatment of anaemia. Surprisingly, 73.8% of the participants were not aware about the sources of iron-rich foods.

CONCLUSIONS: Results indicate an overall poor nutritional status of the urban adolescent college girls in Bangladesh and need for appropriate nutrition interventions to overcome the problem.