The Effect of a Date Consumption-Based Nutritional Program on Iron Deficiency Anemia in Primary School Girls Aged 8 to 10 Years Old in Zahedan (Iran)

AIM: Iron deficiency anemia (IDA) is one of the most common nutritional problems in students. The best and most cost-effective ways to prevent IDA are changes in people’s dietary habits and their nutrition education. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of nutritional program based on dates consumption on IDA in primary schoolgirls. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This was a semi-experimental study. The study population consisted of primary school girl students of Zahedan, Iran, during the academic year of 2018–2019. The sampling method was a combination of stratified sampling and multi-stage cluster sampling. Then, 31 female primary school children with IDA were fed with dates for 2 months. Before the intervention and after 2 months of date consumption, hemoglobin, hematocrit, and ferritin blood parameters were measured. Both paired t-test and chi-square test were used to analyze the data using SPSS version 21. RESULTS: The results were meaningful. The hemoglobin levels at the beginning and the end of the study were 11.19 ± 0.38 and 12.05 ± 0.81 g/dL, respectively (P = 0.001), the hematocrit levels were 34.24 ± 0.41% and 37.17 ±2.36%, respectively, P = 0.001, and the ferritin levels were 47.07 ± 21.89 μg/dL and 53.98 ± 19.77 μg/dL, respectively, P= 0.001. CONCLUSION: The consumption of date fruit increased hemoglobin, hematocrit, and serum ferritin levels in primary school girl students with IDA; therefore, it is recommended to give dates to school girls.