Examining Means of Reaching School and Non School Attending Adolescent Girls for Iron Supplementation in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia.
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Date
2015
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Abstract
Objectives: To examine means of reaching school and non-school attending adolescent girls for
iron supplementation in Tigray region.
Methods: The study employed cross-sectional survey consisting of both quantitative and
qualitative approaches. Stratified multi-stage systematic random sampling technique was used to
collect data from 828 adolescent girls in nine districts. Data was cleaned, coded and analyzed
using SPSS version 20 for windows.
Results: A significant proportion of adolescent girls (30%) were non-school attending. Symptoms
of anemia; paleness and fatigue are known by 18% and 42% of the subjects respectively. Eating
iron rich foods (87.6%) and taking iron supplements (36.7%) were mentioned as the preferred
methods of preventing anemia. Radio (84%) is selected as the best media. Schools (39%) and
health facilities (69%) were the preferred public facilities for provision of supplements. According to
key informants low community awareness, perception of iron tablet as contraceptive, cultural
influences and lack of knowledge were some of the potential barriers.
Conclusions: Nutrition information communication through radio and health development army
and use of school and health facilities to distribute iron supplements were recommended.
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Mulugeta Afework, H/Silassie Kiday, Tessema Masresha, Seid Oumer, Kebede Aweke, Kidane Gebremedhin. Examining Means of Reaching School and Non School Attending Adolescent Girls for Iron Supplementation in Tigray Region, Northern Ethiopia. European Journal of Nutrition & Food Safety. 2015 Special issue; 5(5): 667.