Anemia prevention measures in female students in the Islamic Boarding School of Al-Junaidiyah Biru, Indonesia

BACKGROUND:Anemia in adolescent girls in particular will have a more serious impact, given that they are future mothers. Therefore, the purpose of preventive measure is to reduce the risk of maternal mortality, stunting, wasting, and low birth weight. This study aimed to determine the relationship between knowledge, attitudes, sources of information, perceived susceptibility, and perceived benefits in relation to anemia prevention measures.METHODS AND MATERIAL:This study was carried out using an analytic observational approach with a cross-sectional design. There were a total of 235 female students, and 149 samples of female students at the Islamic Boarding School of Al-Junaidiyah Biru were selected through stratified random sampling. Data analysis was conducted using Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression. Furthermore, the analysis was performed using the STATA program version 14.0.RESULTS:The number of female students who had poor preventive measures was 61.74%. Multivariate analysis showed that knowledge [P = 0.001; odds ratio (OR) 4.57; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.90-10.99] and attitude (P = 0.000; OR 12.30; 95% CI: 5.24-28.86) were the most influential factors.CONCLUSIONS:The lack of information about iron-source foods, iron enhancers, iron inhibitors, and the recommendation to take blood supplement tablets for female students living in boarding schools will make them have insufficient knowledge in anemia prevention measures. The lack of information sources regarding anemia prevention is a health problem for female students living in boarding schools.