Patterns of Dietary Iron Intake, Iron Status, and Predictors of Haemoglobin Levels among Early Adolescents in a Rural Ghanaian District

Abstract

Early adolescents are vulnerable to anaemia due to lean body mass and menarche. *e study assessed patterns of dietary iron intake, iron status, and predictors of anaemia among early adolescents. Method. One hundred and thirty-seven early adolescents were randomly selected in a rural district in Ghana. Multiple-pass 24-hour recall, iron food frequency questionnaire consisting of 27 food items, and semistructured questionnaire were administered. Variables include sociodemographics, dietary factors, and laboratory investigation including haemoglobin, ferritin, and C-reactive protein examination. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software was used to calculate odds ratio and perform Mann–Whitney U test, chi-square (X2) test, exploratory factor analysis, and partial correlation (r) tests. Results. Participants had mean age of 11.5 years. *ree iron dietary patterns explaining 28.7% of the total variance were identified: iron dietary pattern 1 (11%) composed of iron-rich, iron-enhancing, and iron-inhibiting foods; iron dietary pattern 2 (9.9%) comprised of iron-rich, iron-enhancing, and non-iron-inhibiting foods; and iron dietary pattern 3 (7.1%) consisting of stinging nettle, iron-inhibiting foods, non-iron-enhancing foods, noncocoyam leaves, and non-turkey berries. Meal skipping (X2 � 5.7, p < 0.05), times of eating a day (X2 �12.6, p < 0.05), and guardian educational status (X2 � 6.7, p < 0.05) significantly affected dietary iron intake. Anaemia was associated with meal skipping (β � 0.367, p > 0.05), snacking (β � 0.484, p > 0.05), and junior high school (JHS) education (β � 0.544, p > 0.05). Partial correlation showed statistically significant relationship between iron dietary pattern 1 and dietary iron (r � −0.234, p < 0.01), iron dietary pattern 2 and dietary iron (r � -0.198, p < 0.05), iron dietary pattern 2 and vitamin C (r � -0.201, p < 0.05), and haemoglobin and ferritin (r � −0.178, p < 0.05). Conclusion. Meal skipping, guardian educational status, and number of times of eating a day were significantly associated with dietary iron intake. Meal skipping, snacking, and adolescents with JHS education were positively associated with anaemia.