ISSN : 2663-2187

Association Between dietary pattern and Menstrual Health Outcomes in Adolescent Girls from Manipur's Child Care Institutes

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Radali Duarah , Tina Laishram , Kanchan Baruah
» doi: 10.48047/AFJBS.6.14.2024. 20-37

Abstract

Dietary patterns play an important role in individuals’ lives and determine their health status and well-being. The menstrual cycle of a woman is influenced by various factors; however, dietary patterns have the strongest association with menstrual health, that is, menstrual problems and menstrual cycle length. The present study was conducted to assess the impact of dietary patterns on menstrual health among adolescent girls staying in childcare institutions (CCI) of Manipur. The main objective of this study was to determine the nutritional status of adolescent girls, identify the various menstrual health related problems, and study their dietary patterns. The study was undertaken on adolescent girls staying in the childcare institutions of Manipur, that is, Shelter for all: Nabalini Astham, Punya children’s home, Chanura Leikol, and Hesi children’s home. The data were collected purposively from menstruating girls using a pre-tested questionnaire covering the demographic profile, dietary pattern, nutritional status, and food frequency questions. All data collected via different parameters were statistically analyzed, and the results obtained were tabulated. The means and percentages were calculated using Microsoft Office Excel 2010. From the data presented in this study, it was found that most of the girls (75.3%) attained their menarche aged between 10-13 years. Among the girls, 64.66% had regular periods, whereas 35.33% had irregular periods. Most of the girls used sanitary napkins, and 70.6% of the girls had menstrual problems. It was also found that all the participants ate meals twice a day, most of them did not eat junk food, all the participants were non- vegetarian, and none of them consumed alcohol or tobacco products.

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