Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka,1 ... Jahangirnagar University,2 Department of Food and Nutrition, Government Home ...
Original Article Dietary pattern, nutritional status, anaemia and anaemia-related knowledge in urban adolescent college girls of Bangladesh Yearul Kabir,1 Hussain Mohammad Shahjalal,2 Farzana Saleh,3 Wahida Obaid4 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Dhaka,1 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Jahangirnagar University,2 Department of Food and Nutrition, Government Home Economics College,3,4 Bangladesh.
Abstract Objectives: To examine dietary pattern and nutritional status of adolescent college girls of Dhaka, Bangladesh with a particular focus on the prevalence of anaemia and appropriate knowledge about it among them. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted. Sixty-five adolescent girls aged 15-19 years were selected randomly from Home Economics college of Dhaka. A 7-day food frequency questionnaire was used to investigate the dietary pattern. Nutrient intake of the participants was assessed by 24h recall method. Results: Habitual dietary pattern indicated poor consumption of milk, liver and leafy vegetables. Food intake data revealed a deficit of 473 kcal/day in energy. Mean intake of carbohydrate and fat were lower than RDA; while protein, iron, vitamin A and vitamin C intakes were much higher. Anthropometric data indicated that 63% of the girls were stunted (height-for-age 7 members) families, 46% and 39% respectively. Eighty percent of the participants family had low (18.5%, taka < 1000) to moderate (61.5%, taka 1001-3000; 1 US$ = approx. 68 taka) per capita monthly income. A substantial proportion (43.2%) of the participants lived in a rented house. A large proportion of the participants consumed meat (62.5%), fish (53.8%) and eggs (58.4%) 3 to 4 times or less in the week preceding the interview (Table-1). A substantial proportion of the girls did not take milk (46.1%) and liver (64.6%) at all in the week. About 27.7% did not take leafy vegetables; while substantial proportions of the participants had other vegetables (72.2%) 3 to 4 times or more in the week. Fruits were highly popular among the girls, being consumed at least 3 times in the week by an overwhelming majority of the participants (93.5%). Most of the fruits consumed were mango, jackfruit, pineapple, banana, lemon and guava. There was a mean deficit of daily energy intake of J Pak Med Assoc
Table-3: Anthropometric and biochemical indices of urban adolescent college girls. Variable Anthropometry Body weight (kg) Height (cm) Height for age (%) Weight for age (%) BMI (kg/m2) Biochemistry Hemoglobin (g/dl) Iron (µg/dl) TIBC (µg/dl) TS (%) Vitamin C (mg/dl)
Mean (±SD)
Median
Range
44.3 (±6.4) 152.9 (±5.7) 93.8 (±3.8) 77.2 (±11.3) 19.0 (±2.6)
44 152.4 93.7 76.4 18.9
32.0-60.0 139.7-167.6 85.5-103.1 54.8-105.2 14.7-27.3
12.8 (±1.6) 90.7 (±34.9) 372.9 (±55.3) 24.5 (±12.2) 1.2 (±0.6)
12.7 110.6 363.6 26.2 1.1
8.3-17.3 25.5-146.2 285.6-570.4 4.6-49.5 0.20-2.7
SD: Standard deviation, BMI: Body mass index, TIBC: total iron binding capacity, TS: Transferrin saturation.
473.0 kcal (Table-2). The largest proportion of energy (67%) was obtained from carbohydrates, followed by protein (18%) and fats (15%). Mean intakes of iron and vitamin A were almost double of the RDA. Intake of vitamin C was also above the RDA (Table-2). Table-3 shows the biochemical indices for iron and vitamin C status and the nutritional characteristics of the participants. Compared to NCHS values, the mean Ht/Age and Wt/Age were 93.8 ± 3.8% and 77.2 ± 11.3%, respectively. About 63% of the girls were stunted using a cutoff point of
