A Comparative Study of Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamin C Supplementation to Prevent Anemia

Aim: To assess the nutritional status of anaemic girls through anthropometric, biochemical, dietary and clinical assessment; and to study the efficacy of weekly iron and vitamin C supplementation on the haematological profile of the anaemic subjects.

Study Design: An interventional school-based study.

Methodology: The study was conducted on the total sample of sixty adolescent girls aged 16-17 years. The research participants were divided into two groups of thirty each according to the supplementation provided i.e. Iron Folic Acid supplementation along with Lemon water (ILW group) and Iron Folic Acid supplementation with synthetic Vitamin C (IVC group). Both the groups were provided supplementation for three months at weekly intervals.

Results: There was no change in the anthropometric parameter of the research participants after the study. Consumption of cereals, pulses, green leafy vegetables and milk and milk products was significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased in both the groups after the study. Consequently, a significant increase (p ≤ 0.01) in the intake of energy, protein, riboflavin, niacin, calcium, iron and vitamin C was observed in both the groups. After the study, reduction in the percentage of the research participants with signs and symptoms of anemia was observed in all the research participants. Hematological profile of the research participants indicated that increase in the hemoglobin level was higher in the group ILW (9.95 ± 0.11 to 11.02 ± 0.09 g/dl) as compared to the group IVC (9.88 ± 0.10 to 10.80 ± 0.08g/dl).

Conclusion: Weekly iron supplementation along with natural source of vitamin C is more beneficial than synthetic vitamin C, to restore normal levels of red blood cells, hemoglobin, and iron; thus preventing iron deficiency anemia in young adolescent girls. Future research may benefit from attempting to develop, analyzed supplement vitamin C rich food products to the anemic individuals.