Dietary pattern for Adolescent Girls Diagnosed with Iron Deficiency Anemia in Kirkuk Secondary Schools
Author(s): Hadeel Ezaldeen Muhealdeen* and Afifa Rada Aziz
Abstract
Objective: To assess the eating habits of adolescent females with iron deficient anemia. Methodology: This study employed a quantitative research, descriptive evaluation design. The study was carried out on adolescent girls attending Kirkuk secondary school, period from 11 April to 27 December 2022. A non- probability (Purposive) sample has been applied to obtain the study goals. The study sample was (62) student who participate in the study. Results: Pre-test results from the study revealed that 54.8% of students had moderate IDA. While the students' iron levels returned to normal in the posttest (53.2%). The majority of students (59.7%) had poor eating habits at the time of the pretest. While a healthy dietary pattern is present at the post-test (66.1%). The majority of students (80.6%) have headaches, (82.3%) had menarche between the ages of 13 and 14, and (29%) had a history of IDA.. Conclusion: 59.7% of students have poor dietary pattern. According to the results of this study, the majority of participants-students of teenage girls-can recognize foods that contain iron, but they don't consume enough of it due to their eating patterns and diets. Recommendations: More work and creative solutions are needed to create and implement programs to prevent and control iron deficiency anemia in our country nutrition education programs.