Background & Objectives: Anemia is a global health problem. About
40% of the world's population suffers from anemia and adolescence is one
of the most vulnerable age group. Hence the objective of the study was to
determine prevalence and distribution of anemia among adolescent girls in
eastern part of Nepal. Materials & Methods: This cross sectional study was
conducted in a Government School of Dharan over a period of one
year. There were total 433 participants, whose clinical and demographic
profile were recorded and analyzed. Hemoglobin estimation was done by
using cyanmethaemoglobin method and anemia was defined as per WHO
cut-off. Results: The overall prevalence of anemia was found to be 51.3%.
Prevalence was significantly more in pre-menarche age and
undernourished girls (p<0.05). However factors like diet (vegetarian/nonvegetarian),
worm infestation and parental education did not have a
significant impact on occurrence of anemia. Conclusion: Anemia is the
major health problem among adolescent girls in eastern part Nepal with
high prevalence rate and nutrition is one of the leading causative factors
for anemia