Hyderabad: The Telangana State health department has found that 91 per cent girls in state-run schools are anaemic and out of the 16,238 surveyed 21 per cent were found to be severely anaemic and 70 per cent were moderately anaemic.
The survey was carried out to assess the health of young girls in the state and it was found that the prevalence of anaemia continued to be high despite the interventions being taken up by the government.
There are 56.6 per cent women in the age group of 15 to 49 years and 60.7 per cent children under five years of age who are anaemic, according to the NFHS-4 (2015-16) survey.
Dr Balamba P, gynaecologist and obstetrician and former professor of Osmania Medical College said, “The problem of balanced diet continues and to add to it is the new habit of eating junk foods which are easily available. Overcooking of green foods make them lose their essential nutrients, including iron. We are seeing constantly that anaemia continues to be a problem despite interventions which means that there is a miss somewhere and it must be addressed.”
Till then supplementation of iron becomes important for these growing children, the medical expert said.
A senior state health department officer said, “We need to understand where are we going wrong? Is the right information not reaching out to the people? Do they need to know the right foods that they must have? These are essential requirements for a growing children and adults and it’s deficiency affects their growth and also concentration levels.”
