Consumption of Dates as an Accompaniment to Iron Tablets for Female Students with Anemia at MAN Purbalingga

Anemia in adolescent girls and continues into adulthood will complicate pregnancy and childbirth later on. During the pre-survey at MAN Purbalingga, it was suspected that the female students were non-compliant in consuming iron tablets due to side effects such as nausea and a fishy smell, hence the need for non-pharmacological efforts to accompany the iron tablets. The purpose of this activity is to educate about the benefits of dates and provide dates as a companion iron supplements. This activity is conducted in three meetings. The first meeting was an anemia screening, the second meeting included pre and post-tests knowledge, education, and the provision of dates to be consumed for 7 days. The third meeting is a follow-up hemoglobin examination. The result is that out of 26 students in the anemia category, 18 students (69%) improved, 6 students (23%) remained the same, and 2 students (8%) worsened. The pre-test knowledge score of 68.85 increased to 96.15 in the post-test. The conclusion is that there was an increase in knowledge and the category of anemia. However, some still have anemia; on average, they have a history of typhoid fever, and the anemia worsens because they do not consume dates or iron tablets.