Anaemia Prevalence and Dietary Correlates Among Adolescent Girls in Peri-Urban Schools
Department of Paediatrics and Department of Community Medicine, Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Corresponding Author: Banerjee P, Doctus Journal of Paediatrics.
Abstract
Adolescent anaemia carries consequences that extend into the next generation, yet school-based data from peri-urban India remain limited. We measured haemoglobin in 894 girls aged 12 to 17 across nine schools and paired it with a 24-hour dietary recall. Anaemia was present in 46.8%, severe in 3.1%. Consumption of tea within an hour of the midday meal and absence of any weekly iron-folic acid tablet were the two strongest independent correlates; total dietary iron was not, suggesting absorption rather than intake is the limiting step. Reinforcing supervised weekly supplementation and separating tea from meals are low-cost, immediately actionable measures.
Keywords
Adolescent Anaemia; Haemoglobin; Iron-Folic Acid; School Health; Dietary Recall; Iron Absorption
How to Cite
Banerjee P, Saha P and Dutta N. “Anaemia Prevalence and Dietary Correlates Among Adolescent Girls in Peri-Urban Schools”. Doctus Journal of Paediatrics 2.4 (2026): 12-25.
Copyright and Licence
© 2026 Banerjee P. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution Licence, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.