Effects of nutritional education on teenage girls' knowledge, attitudes, and practices around anaemia in the Moradabad district

Abstract

Globally, anaemia is a prevalent public health issue that mostly affects people's health as well as socioeconomic advancement. A high rate of anaemia in school-age children is a sign of a serious issue that emphasises the need for appropriate intervention to stop further decline. The purpose of this study was to investigate how nutritional education affected teenage girls' knowledge, attitudes, and practices around anaemia. Adolescent girls attending public and private schools in the Moradabad area of India are the subjects of this interventional investigation. Students' knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding anaemia were assessed using structured and self-administered questionnaires. The paired t-test was used to analyse the data. When comparing the mean knowledge and attitude scores of teenage girls attending private schools to those attending government schools, there was a notable increase. There was an overall rise of 18% in the mean score of attitudes and 53.6% in the mean score of knowledge (P < 0.05). It has been noted that the frequency of consuming iron-rich foods, particularly ragi, jaggery, green leafy vegetables, and sprouted grains, has increased. Increased consumption of foods high in iron and improved understanding and attitudes surrounding anaemia were the outcomes of the nutritional education. As a result, one of the sustainable and affordable strategies for reducing the incidence of anaemia is nutritional education.