Anemia Prevalence, Associated Factors, and Impact of eHealth Education Among School-going Adolescent Girls in Rural Bangladesh

Globally 1.62 billion people affect anemia, a significant public health threat, especially in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). The prevalence of anemia among non-pregnant and school-going is 30% and 25%, respectively, and 35% of this anemia in the LMICs. Anemia is a medical condition that can develop at any life stage, but at the reproductive age of women, adolescent girls (10-19 years), and growing children are susceptible. Adolescent age is a critical period of developmental transmission and reproductive maturation, requiring increased nutritional intake and proper health education; otherwise, it leads adolescents more vulnerable to future development. The primary reasons for developing anemia are the lack of iron-containing food intake, contaminated water, and poor sanitation. Also, the infection with soil-transmitted helminth is one of the leading blood losses causes of anemia.

Bangladesh is a middle-income, highly populated developing country. As per World Health Organization (WHO) 2019 data, Bangladesh has a 36.7% anemia prevalence among women of reproductive age. According to the WHO, if anemia prevalence is more than 40%, it is an alarming and severe public health problem. The whole-population anemia prevalence satisfies the criteria apparently; however, focusing on sub-population, it does not. For example, among the non-pregnant women's anemia, 73% live in rural Bangladesh. A scientific article reported that 51.6% of adolescent girls were suffering from anemia; 46%, 5.4%, and 0.2% were mild, moderate, severe anemia, respectively. Due to the high prevalence of rural women and adolescent girls' anemia in Bangladesh, adolescents are the highly venerable and more focused group. The lack of education, shortage of iron intake, poor economic status, poor personal hygiene, unhygienic toilets, parasitic infection are the main risk factors of anemia in Bangladesh. Proper interventions, including health education, should be provided to those vulnerable populations. i.e., adolescent girls in rural areas.

Lifestyle and behavioral change depend on knowledge, and nutritional knowledge is essential for good dietary habits. Health education is an effective way to increase knowledge. A school-based nutritional education reported that it is a feasible tool improving the hemoglobin level, knowledge, attitudes, and practices among adolescents. Health education is a useful approach to creating awareness among adolescent girls to reduce preventable diseases like anemia and build a future healthy mother.

In Bangladesh, mobile phone (85%) and network (99%) coverage are high among the rural communities, which is effective in delivering health education through eHealth technology. eHealth is the cost-effective and secure use of information and communications technologies supporting health and health-related fields, including health-care services, health surveillance, health literature, and health education, knowledge, and research (WHO E-Health Resolution 2005). mHealth is an important part of eHealth, which is the use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of health objectives and is viewed as having the potential to transform the face of health service delivery.

To investigators' knowledge, specific research is lacking about the effect of eHealth education among adolescent girls to create awareness and knowledge about the preventive, control, and risk reduction strategies of anemia in the school-going adolescent girls of rural Bangladesh. Moreover, knowledge gaps still exist regarding food habits and dietary practice, hygiene maintenance, lifestyle and behavior, medication adherence, etc., which are important factors developing anemia.