Evaluation of Administration of Weekly Iron-Folic Acid Supplements among In-School Adolescents in Zaria, Nigeria.

Saliu, Muhammad Auwal; Salihu, Aliyu; Adebisi, Babajide; Owolabi, Olumuyiwa Adeyemi; Afolabi, Wasiu Akinloye; Nkwoala, Charles Chiaka

Background and Objectives: Anaemia is a serious public health issue and iron deficiency accounts for approximately half of the global burden. Adolescence encompasses a period of life with explicit health and developmental requirements; a period considered an opportunity to combat the intergenerational cycle of malnutrition. Objective: The study was aimed at assessing the impact of weekly iron-folic-acid (IFA) supplements on haemoglobin levels among in-school adolescents in Zaria. Methods: The study was a longitudinal design which involved 142 participants followed-up for a period of 12 weeks. Socio-demographic characteristics and haemoglobin levels of the participants was assessed before and after intervention. Focus-group-discussions were conducted among the participants to apprehend challenges/barriers to taking IFA supplements. Results: The results indicated that the mean ± SD age of the adolescents was 17.5 ± 1.50 years, majority (80.3%) were female, 83.8% were Hausa and 93.7% were single. The results revealed that the major challenges/barriers to taking IFA supplements by the adolescents were lack of awareness, lack of encouragement, misinformation, phobia, unavailability and unaffordability of the IFA supplements. The prevalence of anaemia among the adolescents before intervention was found to be 76.8%, which reduced to 24.5% after the intervention; before intervention, the mean ± SD of haemoglobin concentration among the adolescents was 11.27 ± 1.33 g/dl which significantly (p = 0.001) increased to 12.60 ± 1.02 g/dl after intervention. Conclusion: The study concluded that weekly IFA supplements for 12 weeks among the adolescents significantly increased their haemoglobin concentration and remarkably reduced the prevalence of anaemia among the adolescents. It is recommended that relevant stakeholders should initiate the weekly IFA supplementation among adolescents to reduce the consequences of anaemia and iron deficiency.

IRON supplements; FOLIC acid; TEENAGERS; ANEMIA; HEMOGLOBINS; IRON deficiency; MALNUTRITION

Nigerian Journal of Nutritional Sciences, 2023, Vol 44, p65

0189-0913

Academic Journal

10.4314/njns.v44i3.6