A STUDY ON WEEKLY IRON FOLIC ACID SUPPLEMENTATION AND REGULAR DEWORMING PROGRAMME IN RURAL SCHOOLS OF MATHURA DISTRICT

Abstract

Background: Adolescent anemia is a major health problem in India. An estimated 56% adolescent girls and 24% adolescent boys in India are anemic, According to the fourth National Family Health Survey, Weekly iron supplementation programme has been quite effective in the control of nutritional anemia in various research settings of India.

Objectives: To determine the current status of WIFS and deworming Programme implementation in the schools of Chaumuhan, western UP, India.

Methods: A Cross Sectional Study was conducted in Chaumuhan block of Mathura district. Chaumuhan block was randomly selected out of ten developmental blocks. There are 10 clusters in Chaumuhan block out of which 3 clusters were randomly chosen. One school each from 3 clusters was chosen by simple random sampling for study. Structured study instrumemts (questionnaires, In-Depth Interviews (IDIs) were developed, and were used to generate data. Modifications were made to suit local requirement and generate data.

Results: Out of total 312 students, there were 104 boys and 208 girls. The mean age of students was 12.36+_1.13. Majority of participants (61.7%) were consuming IFA Tablets once a week and deworming tablet were consumed by 71.2% of students regularly i.e. once in 6 months. 24.0% of children said that they were afraid of side effects like nausea and vomiting as a reason for non-compliance followed by 6.7% who stated that they didn’t like the taste of tablet. When the consumption of IFA tablets was correlated with symptoms of anemia with control variable (Gender, type of family, Parents education and Occupation) there was positive correlation with r value of 0.934 between consumption of IFA tablets and status of anemia in school children

Conclusion: It was observed that there was good compliance to Weekly iron and folic acid supplementation and Deworming programme. To further improve the impact health education sessions about the benefits of these tablets are necessary.