Specifically, 49 per cent of women of reproductive age have anaemia, 24.3 per cent have low iron stores and 12.7 per cent of them are iron deficient.
These figures indicate that majority of the adolescent girls and women did not meet the iron requirements of 20 milligrams per day as recommended by the Food and Agricultural Organisation and, the World Health Organisation.
Iron deficiency anaemia is a condition in which the red blood cells or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet physiological needs of the body. The symptoms of anaemic condition includes, fatigue, dizziness, weakness, drowsiness, shortages of breath and all these militate against active living and human productivity as iron is critical to learning process and energy for day to day activities.
