Dietary diversification for prevention of anaemia among women of childbearing age from rural India

Abstract

Objective: To assess the impact of an intervention modifying dietary habits for the prevention of anaemia in rural India. Design: Intervention study with data on anthropometric (weight, height) measurements, Hb and diet pattern. As per the cut-off for Hb in the government programme, women with Hb ,11 g/dl had to be given Fe tablets and formed the supplemented group while those with Hb . 11 g/dl formed the non-supplemented group. Settings: Three villages near Pune city, Maharashtra, India. Subjects: Rural non-pregnant women (n 317) of childbearing age (15-35 years). Results: After 1 year of intervention, mean Hb increased (from 10?94 (SD 1?22) g/dl to 11?59 (SD 1?11) g/dl) significantly (P , 0?01) with a consequent reduction in the prevalence of anaemia (from 82?0 % to 55?4 %) as well as Fe-deficiency anaemia (from 30?3 % to 10?8 %). Gain in Hb was inversely associated with the initial level of Hb. Significant gain in Hb (0?57 g/dl) was observed among women attending .50 % of the meetings or repeating .50 % of the recipes at home (0?45 g/dl) in the non-supplemented group and was smaller than that observed in the supplemented group. Consumption of green leafy vegetables more than twice weekly increased substantially from 44?7 % to 60?6 %, as did consumption of seasonal fruits. Logistic regression showed that women with lower participation in the intervention had three times higher risk (OR 5 3?08; 95 % CI 1?04, 9?13; P 5 0?04) for no gain in Hb compared with those having high participation. Conclusions: Developing action programmes for improving nutritional awareness to enhance the consumption of Fe-rich foods has great potential for preventing anaemia in rural India.

Prevalence and correlates of anemia among adolescents in Nepal: Findings from a nationally representative cross-sectional survey

“…A recent review by Lassi et al [41] showed that iron supplements could significantly improve hemoglobin concentration in adolescents. Efforts should also be steered towards nutritional programs that promote dietary diversity in order to improve the content and bioavailability of micronutrients in household diets [42, 43].…”

Household Food Insecurity, Coping Strategies and Adolescent Girls’ Dietary Diversity Status in Hossana Town, Ethiopia.

“…Despite considerable efforts to decrease its prevalence, the health and nutritional status of adolescents has seen limited improvement over the past 50 years (8,17). Although diet related health problem affects both sexes and all age groups, it is a major public health problem among women (18) especially among adolescent girls (19).…”

Efficacy of Nutrition and WASH/Malaria Educational Community-Based Interventions in Reducing Anemia in Preschool Children from Bengo, Angola: Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial

“…Integrating therapeutic (deworming) and preventive (either food-based or WASH/malaria education) strategies can simultaneously treat infections and increase hematopoietic micronutrient intake or reduce disease transmission, which could result in the reduction of malnutrition and anemia [2,14,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32]. Several comprehensive intervention strategies have correspondingly been tested.…”

“…Several comprehensive intervention strategies have correspondingly been tested. However, they frequently evaluate the impact of education on nutrition or on infectious etiologies (whether or not combined with drug therapy) separately [17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27,28,29,31]. Thus, differences in their designs and methodologies hinder the comparison and evaluation of results, rendering it difficult to define the best approach to reduce anemia.…”