ABSTRACT

Introduction: Anemia is more common in girls because they have an extra loss of iron in the blood through menstrual bleeding. It can affect the adolescent girl’s development and school performance. Studies have shown that adolescents with anemia have impaired verbal learning and memory, as well as lower standardized maths scores. There is evidence that correcting the anemia may improve learning. Even before anemia might develop, iron deficiency can cause shortened attention span, alertness, and learning in adolescents. Aims and Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of Nutrition balls as supplements in improving haemoglobin levels. Material and methods: 60 subjects were selected by using a probability simple random sampling technique. Adolescent girls who are between the age group of 14 -17 years, haemoglobin level between 9gms/dl-11.9 gms/dl, enrolled in registers and studying in high school from 8th to 10th standard in government high schools of rural area were included. The subjects received oral nutritional supplements (nutrition ball- 150 gms) twice a daily in the morning and evening for 21 days. Bodyweight and haemoglobin levels were assessed before and at the end of 21 days of intervention. Results: After 21 days of daily supplementation of nutrition balls (150 gms), researchers observed that there was an effect of nutritional balls on improving haemoglobin level in the experimental group (t=13.356, P < 0.05). Conclusion: A combination of rice flakes and jaggery with amla powder proved to be a better natural food supplement to improve haemoglobin levels among adolescent girls. The advantage of this preparation is that it does not have any significant adverse effects as observed with oral and parenteral iron preparations. It can also be used as a prophylactic strategy to combat iron deficiency in vulnerable populations. Keyword: Prevalence Nutritional ball, adolescent girl, hemoglobin level rural area
Publication date: 15/12/2021

https://ijbpas.com/pdf/2021/December/MS_IJBPAS_2021_DEC_SPCL_1040.pdf

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2021/10.12.1040