Awareness of Anaemia among Female Adolescent Students in Selected Institutes, Aizawl, Mizoram

Abstract

Background: Anaemia remains a significant public health problem among adolescent girls. Adequate awareness regarding causes, symptoms, prevention, and management of anaemia is essential for adopting healthy behaviour and reducing the burden of the disease. Objectives: To assess the awareness of anaemia among female adolescent students and to determine its association with selected sociodemographic variables. Methods: A quantitative non-experimental descriptive study was conducted among 120 female adolescent students selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using a self-structured awareness questionnaire consisting of 20 items. Awareness levels were classified according to Bloom’s cut-off criteria. Statistical analysis included frequency, percentage, and Chi-square test. Results: Among the participants, 53 (44.2%) demonstrated moderate awareness, 46 (38.3%) had high awareness, and 21 (17.5%) had low awareness. Significant associations were found between awareness level and age (?²=24.63, p<0.01), class (?²=47.98, p<0.01), type of school (?²=14.79, p<0.01), and family income (?²=9.67, p=0.045). No significant association was observed between awareness level and food preference (?²=0.184, p=0.937). Conclusion: Most participants demonstrated moderate to high awareness regarding anaemia. However, awareness levels varied according to age, educational status, type of school, and family income, highlighting the need for targeted health education interventions.

Introduction

Anaemia is a major public health concern among adolescent girls, primarily due to iron deficiency. Poor awareness regarding its causes, symptoms, prevention, and treatment contributes to its high prevalence. Previous studies have shown that improving knowledge through health education can promote healthy behaviours and reduce the risk of anaemia. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the awareness of anaemia among female adolescent students and determine its association with selected socio-demographic variables.

A quantitative non-experimental descriptive research design was adopted. The study was conducted in selected government and private schools in Zemabawk, Aizawl, Mizoram, among 120 female adolescent students aged 10–19 years selected through non-probability purposive sampling. Data were collected using a self-structured demographic questionnaire and a 20-item awareness checklist. Awareness levels were classified according to Bloom's cut-off criteria as high, moderate, and low. The tool demonstrated good reliability, with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.801, and ethical approval and informed consent were obtained before data collection.

The socio-demographic profile showed that most participants (52.5%) were aged 16–19 years, while 39.2% were aged 13–15 years and 8.3% were aged 10–12 years. Forty percent each were studying in Classes IX–X and XI–XII, while 20% were in Classes VI–VIII. The majority (65.8%) attended government schools, 88.3% were non-vegetarian, and 65.8% belonged to families with a monthly income above ?30,000.

The findings of this study will help identify knowledge gaps regarding anaemia among adolescent girls and provide evidence for planning effective school-based health education programmes to improve awareness and promote the prevention and early management of anaemia.

Conclusion

The study concluded that most female adolescent students had moderate to high levels of awareness regarding anaemia. A significant association was observed between awareness level and selected socio-demographic variables, including age, class, type of school, and family income, indicating that these factors influence awareness. However, food preference was not significantly associated with awareness level. The findings emphasize the importance of targeted health education programmes to further improve awareness regarding anaemia among adolescent girls.

References

[1] Gillespie, B., Katageri, G., Salam, S., Ramadurg, U., Patil, S., Mhetri, J., Charantimath, U., Goudar, S., Dandappanavar, A., Karadiguddi, C., Mallapur, A., Vastrad, P., Roy, S., Peerapur, B., & Anumba, D. (2023). Attention for and awareness of anemia in adolescents in Karnataka, India: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 18(4), e0283631. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283631 [2] Rathi, N., Kansal, S., Raj, A., Redapanga, N., Joshua, I., & Worsley, A. (2024). Indian adolescents’ perceptions of anaemia and its preventive measures: A qualitative study. Journal of Nutritional Science, 13, e9. https://doi.org/10.1017/jns.2024.4 [3] Verma, K., & Baniya, G. C. (2022). Prevalence, knowledge, and related factor of anemia among school-going adolescent girls in a remote area of western Rajasthan. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 11(4), 1474–1481. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1372_21 [4] World Health Organization. (2023, May 1). Anemia: A global public health problem. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/anaemiaInternational Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS), & ICF. (2021). National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019–21: India report. International Institute for Population Sciences.

Copyright

Copyright © 2026 Torik Buchi, Arline Besra, C. Lalchhanhimi. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.