A pilot study to assess the effectiveness of drumstick leaves powder supplementation in prevention of anemia among adolescent girls

Abstract

Anemia is one of the most common cause of malnutrition, has a major community health significance affecting adolescent girls, women and children worldwide. Anemia highly prevalent among adolescent girls of Indian population mainly from lower socio-economic status. This study was done with the intention of finding an efficient substitute in the form of non-haem iron of vegetable origin in drumstick leaves by administering as supplementation to treat anemia. Randomized clinical trial design was used in this study, the target group consisted adolescent girls with mild and moderate anemia. 12 (Experimental n=6, Control n=6) adolescent girls with their hemoglobin level between 9-12 gm/dl were selected as samples. Intervention was started with one tea spoon (about 5gm) dried drumstick leaves powder supplementation once a day with meals for 30 days to the experimental group. At the end of intervention, the posttest hemoglobin level was assessed. The result revealed that the subject showed a significant improvement in Hb level at (p<0.001 level), drumstick leaves powder had significantly improved mean Hb levels in the posttest from (10.7167±0.25) to (11.1000±0.32) gm/dl.