Prevalence of malnutrition among adolescent girls in North Kerala: A cross-sectional study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47203/IJCH.2026.v38i03.003Keywords:
Adolescent girls. Anemia, Malnutrition, North KeralaAbstract
Background: Nutritional status of adolescent girls have important role in having a healthy womanhood in future. Malnutrition retards pubertal changes, impairs scholastic performance, and increases risk for infectious diseases. National Nutrition Mission was started in 2017 in India with the goal of improving the nutritional status of children. In this context, the present research was conducted to assess the nutritional status of adolescent girls in North Kerala as a baseline study. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during May 2019 to March 2020 in Kannur, Kasargod, Wayanad and Malappuram districts of Kerala to assess malnutrition among adolescent girls in terms of anemia and body mass index (BMI). Results: A total of 395 adolescent girls participated in the study. Their age ranged from 10 to 19 years, with a mean of 13.8 years and standard deviation 2.5 years. The present study observed that 28% had malnutrition. The prevalence of anemia among adolescent girls (n=388) was found to be 40%. Proportion of anemia among those who attained menarche (51.8%) was significantly high compared to those who didn’t attain menarche (24.4%). A significantly high proportion of those who didn’t take iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets weekly were thin (16.5%) compared to those who took IFA tablets weekly (9.9%). Conclusion: The present study observed that anemia and malnutrition are significant problems among adolescent girls and specific measures need to be initiated to tackle the situation.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Dr A K Jayasree, Dr Anitha S S, Dr Usha K, Dr Binoo Divakaran, Dr Asma A Rahim, Dr Sudarshan B P (Author)
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