A Study of Prevalence and Determinants of Anemia among Adolescent Girls of Urban Slums of Warangal City

Background: Iron-deficiency anemia is the commonest medical disorder and is a problem of serious public health condition with epidemic proportions especially among poor adolescent girls (65-90%). Objectives: To determine the prevalence and determinants of anemia among adolescent girls living in urban slums of Warangal city, Telangana state, India. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted in a setting of urban slums of Warangal city, Telangana state, India, during the period July 2014 to February 2015. A total of four urban slums were included in the study. Within each selected urban slum, 100 adolescent girls were studied. The relevant information was collected with anthropometric measurements and hemoglobin estimation. Results: The overall prevalence of any anemia was 82.5%; the prevalence of mild, moderate and severe anemia was 37.7, 36.2 and 8.5% respectively. Sociodemographic factors like religion, education of the girl, occupation of the father, menstrual factors like regular periods and excessive bleeding and nutritional factors like low intake of meat, vegetables and body mass index showed significant association with anemia.