Prevalence of Anaemia Among Young Adult Females in Two Selected Grama Niladhari Areas in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka

Abstract

Anaemia is a global health problem and its impact is felt in Sri Lanka as well. Anaemia is characterized by less than the normal quantity of hemoglobin in the blood. Anaemia occurs at all stages of life, but is particularly prevalent in women of reproductive age, pregnant women and children. This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of anaemia in two rapidly developing administrative units in Southern Province of Sri Lanka. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hungama and Hiththatiya middle administrative units in the Hambantota and Matara districts of Southern province of Sri Lanka. Females between 20-50 years of age (n=152 from each area) were selected by simple random sampling and 2 ml of venous blood was withdrawn from each subject and analysed for haemoglobin concentration by cyanmethaemoglobin method. Anaemia was defined as a haemoglobin level less than 115.0 g/L. Overall prevalence of anaemia (Haemoglobin<114.9 g/L) was 3.94% and 5.26% for Hiththatiya middle and Hungama grama niladhari areas, respectively. There was no significant difference between prevalence of anaemia in the two administrative units (P >0.05). Age wise 87.5% of anaemic people are over 40 years. Prevalence of anaemia is significantly less in the two Grama Niladhari areas compared to national data and there is no statistically significant difference between the prevalence of anaemia between the two areas. Thus there may be pockets in Sri Lanka where anaemia may not be a major health problem as compared to the rest of the country.

Prevalence and Correlates of Nutritional Anaemia among Adolescent Girls of Distt. U.S. Nagar, Uttarakhand

“…Our study revealed no significant association between BMI and anaemia. A similar study was conducted in Srilanka, in which BMI had no significantly associated with presence of anaemia [31]. In another similar kind of study, it was found that odds of anaemia decreased with obesity [32].…”