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Subject: Agricultural Extension Education × Author: Arya, Kiran × End date: 2009 × Type: Thesis ×
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    ThesisItemOpen Access
    Designing a communication strategy for controlling Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) among women in Uttarakhand
    (G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar - 263145 (Uttarakhand), 2008-07) Arya, Kiran; Kameswari, V.L.V.
    Women constitute (50%) of the world population. Therefore, they play a significant role in the global economic, social and political developments. However, their full potential is rarely achieved due to discrimination faced by them in almost all spheres of life. Of the many problem faced by women, their health status remains a major concern. Iron deficiency Anemia (IDA) poses a significant challenge to public health all over India. It is the commonest nutrition disorder among women in the world. In the developing world alone; 370 million women suffer from IDA. According to FAO (2001), highest prevalence of IDA (88.9%) is found in women in India. A study conducted by ICMR (2001) in 16 districts of all 11 states, reported that about 90% of adolescent girls had hemoglobin level indicative of Anaemia. The study conducted by WHO (2002-2004) in Uttarakhand reported that 98% of women among backward classes are suffering from anaemia. While a number of programmes have been implemented for control of anemia at national and state levels from time to time, recent district level RCH survey (2002) point out that the coverage of beneficiaries was less than 15% in all the states due to lack of orientation of the functionaries, lack of community involvement and weak nutrition education. Though nutrition education is an important component of the National Nutrition Anemia Control programmes, it is also the weakest link in all the nutrition intervention programmes. Hence, it was realized that a comprehensive communication strategy needs to be drawn up after analyzing the socio-economic and communication characteristics of the women and assessing their knowledge level about IDA. The present study was conducted in two randomly selected villages; viz; Radhakantpur and Motipur, in Gadarpur Block in U.S Nagar district which lies in the Tarai region of Uttarakhand. Out of the total number of households in each village, 25% were selected randomly using chit method and one married woman from each household in the reproductive age group was selected for administering the schedule. Finding of the study revealed that most of the respondents were in the age group of 26-35 years (47.52%), illiterate (42.57), not engaged in any paid activity outside their home (68.31%) and belonged to nuclear families (56.43%). T.V and radio are their primary sources of entertainment while Village Health Worker and Anganwadi worker, who enjoy high source credibility, are approached frequently for health related information. Assessment of knowledge level of the respondents indicates that most of the respondents were aware of high risk posed by IDA to pregnant women. On the other hand, very few were aware of the symptoms, causes, consequences and iron rich food sources and food preparation for retention of iron. Based of the information gaps, a communication strategy incorporating eight methods has been designed. It includes a mix of group and mass methods and uses a wide range of media based on the communication behavior of the women in these villages. Media used in the communication strategy are radio talk, film slide show on symptoms, video film on iron rich sources of food and their preparation, group meeting with female doctor and nutrition expert mediated by village health worker and anganwadi worker, exhibition on a special occasion, poster and chart to raise awareness about the importance of iron rich food sources and folk media. The strategy specifies the topic, target audience, primary function, frequency, time and a brief description of the content.The study reinforces previous findings which indicate that there is very little knowledge among the village women about anemia. It also shows that there is a need for systematic efforts to provide nutrition education for controlling IDA in the region. While IDA is a result of several factors, a strong nutrition education programme can go a long way in decreasing the prevalence of IDA in the area.