Prevalence of anaemia in school going adolescents in a municipality town of West Bengal

Introduction: Anaemia is a major public health problem in India. It directly causes many premature deaths in population. The deaths due to anaemia as indirect cause far outweigh the number due to many well-known causes of mortality in a developing nation.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in two schools of a municipal town of West Bengal. One school was public and the other was private. The haemoglobin was estimated by HaemoCue® instrument.

Results: Two hundred students finally participated in the study. 118 (59%) of these students were studying in a government run institute. 105 (53%) of the study participants were females. The mean (SD) age of the study participants was 14.05 (.8) years. Majority of the participants belonged to lower middle class.  About half (51%) of the study participants have correct knowledge about the cause of anaemia. Out of three major meals of the day, study participants’ were taking dinner regularly. Around 47% of them missed or never took a breakfast within last week. Around 91% of the study participants were non-vegetarian, a usual diet pattern in this part of the country. The mean (SD) Haemoglobin concentration of students was 12.58 (1.20) gm/dl. The mean haemoglobin concentration of male students was significantly more than that of female. Overall 70 (35%) students were suffering from anaemia. 45 out 105 (42.9%) female students were suffering from anaemia, whereas 25 (26.3%) male students were suffering from anaemia. Male students were significantly more tall and heavier when compared with female students. Anaemia was statistically more common in students belonging to low socioeconomic strata of the society.

Conclusion: The awareness about anaemia and its causes is low in school students. The prevalence of anaemia is high amongst school going adolescents in urban areas of West Bengal.