The Exploration of Potential Tropical Foods to Prevent Anemia in

Adolesscent in Samarinda

Tanti Asrianti

, Nurul Afiah

, Reny Noviasty

and Khumairotul Zahroh

Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia

Department of Nutrition, Faculty of Public Health, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia

Department of Health Promotion, Faculty of Public Health, Mulawarman University, Samarinda, Indonesia

Keywords: Anemia, Adolescent, Tropical Food.

Abstract: A period of transition from child to adult known as adolescence, which causes a lot of changes that need

nutrients for their growth and development. If the intake of needs is not balanced, it will cause health problems

such as anemia. The prevalence of anemia in Indonesia at the age of 15-24 years has experienced an increasing

trend from 18.4% in 2013 to 32% in 2018. The prevalence of anemia in Samarinda in 2016 was 321 cases

spread over 22 health center. This was an analytic survey method with cross-sectional approach to describe

the pattern of tropical food consumption that has the potential to prevent anemia. Respondents were female

students at the Hidayatullah Islamic Boarding School, Samarinda. From 69 respondents, 49.3% experienced

anemia. The picture of consumption of food sources of iron is still quite low, including local foods that contain

high iron. Increasing the consumption of food sources of iron is very important to prevent the risk of anemia,

including by getting used to consuming local food which is widely available in the East Kalimantan. Further

research regarding the relationship between local food consumption and the risk of anemia needs to be carried

out based on specific local food type.

1 INTRODUCTION

Adolescence is a period of transition from child to

adult which causes biological, cognitive and

emotional changes. These changes make adolescents

need a lot of nutrients for their growth and

development (Wirenviona et al., 2021). If the intake

of needs is not balanced, it will cause health

problems. One of the health problems experienced by

adolescents is anemia (Warner et al, 2022).

The prevalence of anemia in Indonesia at the age

of 15-24 years has experienced an increasing trend

from 6.9% in 2007, 18.4% in 2013 and 32% in 2018.

The prevalence of anemia in Samarinda in 2016 was

321 cases spread over 22 health center in Samarinda

City (Musrah & Widyawati, 2019).

Girl adolescents have a greater risk of anemia than

boys. Girl adolescent experience menstruation which

can cause anemia. Based on the results of a survey

conducted at one of the middle schools in Samarinda

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8664-643X

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found that 79 out of 174 female students have

symptoms of anemia (Santoso, 2022).

East Kalimantan is a province with humid tropical

forests, which are rich in food diversity, especially

fruits and vegetables which are high in vitamins and

minerals as well as iron as a form of blood

haemoglobin which can help optimize the absorption

of iron in the blood through the gastrointestinal tract,

this can indirectly increase haemoglobin levels

(Wahdaningsih et al, 2020). The fruits contain a lot of

vitamin C which can increase the absorption of both

heme and non-heme iron (UVAHealth, 2018).

One of the factors that influence the occurrence of

anemia is eating habits. Adolescents who have

unhealthy eating habits are at risk of anemia. This is

due to low nutritional eating habits or unhealthy diet

so the food that consumed does not meet the nutrients

that needed for the formation of haemoglobin (Sharief

& Azrida, 2021).

Asrianti, T., Aﬁah, N., Noviasty, R. and Zahroh, K.

The Exploration of Potential Tropical Foods to Prevent Anemia in Adolesscent in Samarinda.

DOI: 10.5220/0012897800004564

Paper published under CC license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)

In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Social Determinants of Health (ICSDH 2023), pages 5-8

ISBN: 978-989-758-727-6; ISSN: 2975-8297

Based on the background, it is very important to

explore the local food consumption that has the

potential to prevent the risk of anemia.

2 METHOD

This study used an analytic survey method with a

cross-sectional approach to describe the pattern of

tropical food consumption that has potential to

prevent anemia. Respondents to this study were

female students at the Hidayatullah Islamic Boarding

School Samarinda, East Kalimantan.

The aims and protocol of this study was explained

to the guardians and all participants. The consent

were obtained through written documentation before

participant being recruited into the study.

This study was conducted on October 16

, 2022.

Anemia screening has been carried out on 69

respondents using Haemoglobin Meter Family Dr Hb

check. Respondents were classified as having the risk

of anemia if their Hb level was less than 11.5 g/dL.

The dietary intake of adolescents was assessed using

a food frequency questionnaire but only 62

respondents filled out the questionnaire completely.

Respondents were classified as rarely consuming

local foods if the frequency of consuming local food

was lower than the median consumption value for all

respondents. Data were analyzed using bivariate

analysis to describe the pattern of tropical food

consumption that has the potential to prevent anemia.

3 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From the screening test of anemia, there was 4 9%

respondents with anemia. The average of

respondent’s haemoglobin level was 12 mg/dl from

5.4 to 15.3 mg/dl.

Table 1 shows the description of local food

consumption with the incidence of anemia.

Table 1: Description of local food consumption with the

incidence of anemia.

frequency of local foods

consumption

anemia non anemia

n % n %

fruit rare 19 52.8 17 47.2

frequent 9 39.1 14 60.9

vegetable rare 18 46.2 21 53.8

frequent 10 50.0 10 50.0

Animal-based

protein

rare 17 51.5 16 48.5

fre

uent 11 42.3 15 57.7

Plant-based

protein

rare 17 48.6 18 51.4

frequent 11 45.8 13 54.2

Based on the table 1, the proportion of anemia is

higher in respondents who rarely consumed fruit

(52.8%) compared to respondents who often eat fruit

(39.1%). The proportion of anemia incidence was

lower among respondents who rarely consumed

vegetables (46.2%) compared to those who

frequently consumed it (50.0%).

Respondent who often consumed animal-based

protein source had a higher proportion of not

experiencing anemia (57.7%) compared to those who

rarely consumed it (48.5%). Likewise for respondents

who often consumed plant-based protein sources, the

proportion was higher not experiencing anemia

(54.2%) compared to those who rarely consumed it

(51.4%).

Table 2 is an overview of the consumption of local

fruit among non anemia respondents based on the

type of local fruit generally consumed by people in

east Kalimantan.

Table 2: Description of local fruit consumption in non

anemia respondents.

local fruit rarel

fre

uentl

n % n %

Dragon fruit 16 53.3 15 51.7

Cempeda

15 45.5 16 61.5

Pineapple 16 47.1 15 60.0

Banana 14 53.8 17 51.5

a 15 46.9 16 59.3

lai 20 51.3 11 55.0

weni 18 43.9 13 72.2

Soursop 18 47.4 13 61.9

Jackfruit 19 51.4 12 54.5

Wan

i 24 50.0 7 63.6

Ihau 22 48.9 9 64.3

ambai 23 50.0 8 61.5

apul 26 52.0 5 55.6

eledang 26 51.0 5 63.5

Tara

27 51.9 4 57.1

aritam 26 51.5 5 62.5

Oran

e 15 46.9 16 59.3

Guava 16 45.7 15 62.5

Mango 16 48.5 15 57.7

Based on table 2, the proportion of non anemia

respondents is higher in respondents who frequently

consume local fruit such as cempedak, pineapple,

papaya, elai, kweni, soursop, jackfruit, wanyi, ihau,

rambai, kapul, keledang, tarap, maritam, orange,

guava, and mango. Especially in kweni fruit,

proportion of non anemia respondents was much

higher in respondents who often consumed the fruit

(72,2%) compared to those who rarely consumed it

(43.9%).

ICSDH 2023 - The International Conference on Social Determinants of Health

Table 3: Description of local vegetable iron-rich

consumption in non anemia respondents.

Local vegetable

iron-rich

rarel

frequentl

n % n %

Spinach 8 57.1 23 51.1

Water s

inach 6 50.0 25 53.2

Ferns 21 50.0 10 58.8

elakai 27 50.9 4 66.7

Long beans 13 56.5 18 50.0

Tunjuk langit 28 50.9 3 75.0

ates leaves 24 51.1 7 58.3

Cassava leaves 22 53.7 9 50.0

Morin

a leaves 22 52.4 9 52.9

Table 3 is an illustration of local vegetable iron-

rich consumption in non anemia respondents. The

data showed that the proportion of non anemia was

higher in respondents who often consumed

vegetables such as water spinach (53.2%), ferns

(58.8%), kelakai (66.7%), tunjuk langit (75.0%),

kates leaves (58.3%), and moringa leaves (52.9%).

Table 4: Description of local protein source consumption in

non anemia respondents.

Local protein source rarel

frequentl

n % n %

Animal-

ase

rotein sources

16 48.5 15 57.7

aka

16 44.4 15 65.2

Tongkol 13 43.3 18 62.1

embung 17 45.9 14 63.6

awal 18 45.0 13 68.4

Ten

iri 18 45.0 13 68.4

Tuna 16 47.1 15 60.0

Teri 17 51.5 14 53.8

andeng 16 48.5 15 57.7

ila 16 48.5 15 57.7

19 48.7 12 60.0

Haruan 18 52.9 13 52.0

Patin 17 48.6 14 58.3

ele 18 52.9 13 52.0

as 1 50.0 14 56.0

Shrimp 16 47.1 15 60.0

19 51.4 12 54.5

Shellfish 17 45.9 14 63.6

Crab 17 48.6 14 58.3

Beef 18 51.4 13 54.2

Goat meat 21 53.8 10 50.0

Chicken meat 15 45.5 16 61.5

Duck meat 20 54.1 11 50.0

Chicken e

s 9 40.9 22 59.5

Duck eggs 20 52.6 11 52.4

Quail eggs 18 50.0 13 56.5

Beef live

26 53.1 5 50.0

Chicken live

21 53.8 10 50.0

Plant-

ased

rotein sources

Tem

e 6 60.0 24 50.0

Tahu 6 54.5 24 51.1

Peanut 19 51.4 11 52.4

Green beans 21 52.5 9 50.0

Cashew 19 47.5 11 61.1

Red beans 21 48.8 9 60.0

Table 4 is an illustration of local animal-based and

plant-based protein sources consumption in non

anemia respondents. The data showed that the

proportion of non anemia respondents was higher in

respondents who frequently consumed most of the

local animal and vegetable protein sources.

4 DISCUSSION

The results of this research found that in general there

is no relationship between fruits, vegetables, and

protein source consumption with anemia, but from

the proportion showed that respondents who

consumed those food frequently was higher to not

having anemia compared to those who rarely

consumed it. Except for kweni fruit, there was a

significant relationship between the frequency of

kweni fruit consumption and the risk of anemia (p

value < 0.05). Further research is needed to determine

the effect of consuming kweni fruit in reducing the

risk of anemia.

An experimental research on 2021 through

supplementation of vitamin C and iron tablets found

that supplementation of vitamin C and iron tablets can

reduce the proportion of anemia in girl adolescents

(Wahyuni, 2021). Iron consumed with vitamin C is

more effective in increasing hemoglobin level

(Agusmayanti R, et al. (2020); Rieni EG, et al

(2021)). Fruits contain vitamin C which can help the

absorption of iron (Krisnanda, 2020; Skolmowska &

Głąbska, 2022). Eating foods that contain vitamin C

after consuming foods rich of iron has the potential to

prevent anemia.

As well as fruit, dark leafy green vegetables also

has the potential to prevent the anemia because it

contain high iron (Taneja et al., 2020). Dark leafy

green vegetables which are widely available in east

Kalimantan are rich in iron. Kalimantan’s local fruits

also high of vitamin C. Routinely consuming local

fruit, especially after consuming iron rich foods is

expected to reduce the risk of anemia, especially in

adolescent woman.

Iron deficiency is a cause of anemia. Consuming

iron-rich foods is expected to reduce the risk of

anemia. Based on a research in Klaten and Lombok

Barat District on 2021, frequent consumption of

animal-based iron-rich foods was significantly

The Exploration of Potential Tropical Foods to Prevent Anemia in Adolesscent in Samarinda

associated with a lower risk of anemia (Knijff,

Roshita, Suryantan, Izwardy, & Rah, 2021).

This research did not examine the consumption

habits of respondents of foods or beverages that are

iron inhibitor. Further research is needed by paying

attention to the consumption behaviour of iron

inhibitor and prohibitor.

5 CONCLUSION

Increasing the consumption of food sources of iron is

very important to prevent the risk of anemia,

including by getting used to consuming local food

which is widely available in the East Kalimantan

region. Further research regarding the relationship

between local food consumption and the risk of

anemia need to be carried out based on specific local

food type.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We sincerely thanks to Faculty of Public Health of

Mulawarman University, Hidayatullah Islamic

Boarding School Samarinda, and all of contributors

for their willingness to participated in this study.

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ICSDH 2023 - The International Conference on Social Determinants of Health