Predictors of Iron Supplement Consumption in High School Girls: An Application of the Health Promotion Model

Abstract

Aims: Considering the prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency and exposure to risk in adolescent girls, the aim of the present study was to determine the predictors of iron supplementation in high school girls using health promotion model. Instruments & Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was carried out on 230 female students from high schools of Meybod city, Yazd province, Iran in 2017. The subjects were selected using classified random sampling method. Data were collected by the researcher-made questionnaire including demographic characteristics and health promotion model structures which was filled by self-administered. Data were analyzed using SPSS 16 software through linear regression analysis and Spearman correlation test. Findings: The mean of iron supplement consumption among 16 distributed supplements was 8.44±5.19. The perceived self-efficacy and positive emotions had the strongest correlation with iron supplement consumption (p<0.01). Totally, 19.1% of the behavior variation was explained by perceived self-efficacy and barriers in which perceived self-efficacy was the strongest significant predictor of consumption of iron supplement (p<0.001). Conclusion: Increase of self-efficacy and decrease of perceived barriers can increase the iron supplement consumption by high school girls.

Keywords

• Anemia
• Iron
• Students
• Self-efficacy
• Health Promotion