Anaemia in Teenage Girls and Pregnant Women: How Iron Tablets Help
November 5, 2026 · 3 min read
Anaemia leaves you tired, dizzy, and unable to focus. Teenage girls and pregnant women are among those most at risk, and iron tablets help prevent it.
Do you often feel tired, dizzy, have cold hands and feet, or get out of breath easily? These can be signs of anaemia, when the blood lacks enough healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen around the body.
How common it is
According to WHO, anaemia affects about 40 percent of children aged 6 to 59 months, 37 percent of pregnant women, and 30 percent of women aged 15 to 49 around the world. Women and children are the groups most often affected.
What causes it
The most common cause is iron deficiency, from not getting enough iron in the diet. Other causes include a lack of vitamin A, folate, and vitamin B12, infections such as malaria and worms, very heavy periods, and blood loss during childbirth. In some regions, inherited blood disorders such as thalassaemia are also a common cause.
The symptoms
- Tiredness.
- Dizziness or light headedness.
- Cold hands and feet.
- Headache.
- Shortness of breath on exertion.
When anaemia is severe, the skin and the inside of the eyelids can look pale, breathing and heartbeat become fast, and the body bruises easily.
Iron tablets
Indonesia's Ministry of Health runs an iron tablet programme. Teenage girls are advised to take one tablet once a week, and in many schools the tablets are taken together. For pregnant women, the Ministry aims for every mother to receive at least 90 tablets during pregnancy.
Follow the directions from your midwife, doctor, or health worker. WHO also advises taking iron supplements only when a health worker recommends them.
From everyday food
WHO suggests several ways to get enough iron:
- Eat iron rich foods such as lean red meat, fish, chicken, beans and lentils, fortified cereals, and dark green leafy vegetables.
- Eat fruit and vegetables rich in vitamin C, which help the body absorb iron.
- Limit tea, coffee, and cocoa around mealtimes, as they can slow iron absorption.
Preventing and treating worm infections also helps, because some worms cause small, steady bleeding in the gut that slowly leads to anaemia.
When to see a doctor
If tiredness and dizziness go on for a long time, or there are signs of severe anaemia such as looking very pale and breathless, get checked. A simple blood test can confirm whether you have anaemia and why.
A Coapotek pharmacist can help explain how to take iron tablets and which foods or drinks are best not taken at the same time.
Sources
- World Health Organization. Anaemia, fact sheet, 10 February 2025.
- Ministry of Health of the Republic of Indonesia. Menkes Semangati Remaja Putri Gorontalo Terbebas Anemia (The Minister of Health encourages teenage girls in Gorontalo to be free of anaemia), 16 July 2018.
- World Health Organization. Soil-transmitted helminth infections, fact sheet, 18 January 2023.