Nutritional assessment of teenage girls at Tando Allahyar, Sindh, Pakistan
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Abstract
Young Girls at adolescence stage need high calorie intake and a balanced diet consisting of good quality protein, calcium, iron, folic acid and vitamin B12 to avoid calcium and iron deficiency disorders. In this regard, this study was designed to explore the dietary behavior, nutritional status, calcium and iron levels in teen age girls of UC-1 district Tando Allahyar, Sindh. 200 participants were included in the study and were asked to fill a questionnaire consisting of questions about dietary patterns and food habits. The complete blood count, body mass index (BMI), serum calcium and serum iron levels were assessed to check their nutritional status. All the age groups depicted a lower BMI and underweight condition. The teen age girls in our study were either found to ignore a balanced diet or had less access to it due to poor household income. The hemoglobin level of adolescents was moderately low, especially 18-19 years’ age group girls were anemic. Although calcium levels were in normal range but majority of girls experienced weakness during their routine work. Anemia, low socioeconomic levels, less consumption of meat and milk, skipping meals behavior, skipping breakfast or only taking tea as breakfast were found to be major factors associated with undernutrition of teen age girls of Tando Allahyar district. Conclusively, the present research elucidates major factors contributing to undernutrition in adolescent girls which will help them to overcome any nutrition related deficiencies. Moreover, there is a dire need to raise such nutrition awareness in teenage girls to benefit the community health.
Keywords: Anemia; Adolescent age; BMI; Calcium; Iron; Underweight