Supported by
Data Source : NFHS-4 [2015-16]
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| 20-29 | 30-39 | 40-49 | 50-59 | 60-69 | 70-79 | 80-90 |
Data Source : CNNS
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has launched a new adolescent health programme- Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram. The programme envisages strengthening of the health system for effective communication, capacity building and monitoring and evaluation. Further, RKSK underscores the need for several constituencies to converge effectively and harness their collective strength to respond to adolescent health and development needs. The different stakeholders, working on issues related to adolescent health and development, have a lot to gain by building on each others work both in terms of achieving programme objectives as well as in the improved indicators for adolescent health and development.
In most populations anaemia is primarily due to iron deficiency and is in fact the late stage of a relatively long process of deterioration in iron stores. UNICEF/UNU/ WHO / MI report indicates that there are approximately 2.5 cases of iron deficiency for each case of anaemia. The functional consequences are known to occur prior to onset of clinical stage of iron deficiency . Many more adolescents are in fact suffering from iron deficiency (ID) with its adverse effects on health and physical stamina, than are frankly anaemic. Iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) in adolescence is a major public health problem. Studies indicate that the incidence of anaemia in adolescents tends to increase with age and corresponds with the highest acceleration of growth during adolescence. The highest prevalence is between the ages of 12-15 years when requirements are at peak. More than 50% girls in this age group have been reported to be anaemic.
Weekly iron-folic acid supplementation (WIFS) and not daily supplements is proposed as a preventive long term approach to improve iron status and also 53 for reducing the prevalence of anaemia . The daily oral administrations of iron doses far exceed the capacity of an individual to assimilate (absorb, utilize, and metabolize) iron safely. The positive impact of WIFS reported in various studies support the “mucosal block” hypothesis, wherein administration of iron every seven days allow time for shedding of cells loaded with iron from a previous dose, thereby increasing iron absorption
