[01] Fazal Dad, Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan. [02] Saleem Khan, Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan. [03] Ijaz Habib, Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan. [04] Bakht Ramin Shah, Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan; College of Food Science and Technology, Huazhong Agriculture University, Wuhan, China. [05] Muhammad Sohail, Department of Human Nutrition, Faculty of Nutrition Sciences, the KPK Agricultural University, Peshawar, Pakistan.

Food fortification has been defined as the addition of one or more essential nutrients to a food whether or not it is normally contained in the food. Iron acts as an integral part of hemoglobin and is required for the transport of oxygen and carbon dioxide in blood. Cereal foods can be successfully fortified with iron. Among the cereals, wheat has additional advantage to be used as vehicle. The bioavailability of iron added to wheat is several times greater than other staples such as maize and rice. Ferrous sulphate has excellent bioavailability. It is the fortificant of choice when used in wheat flour and is the best iron source because of its high bioavailability and low cost. In this study the effect of ferrous sulphate fortified wheat flour on the hemoglobin status of adolescent girls was examined in district Buner. A total of 200 adolescent girls were randomly selected and divided into two groups, study and control each group having 100 girls. The subjects of the study group were fed with ferrous sulfate fortified wheat flour while the control group were fed with non-fortified wheat flour as a placebo. The hemoglobin level of both groups was determined 4 times, prior to intervention, after 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd month of consuming ferrous sulfate fortified wheat flour with the help of Hemo Cue. The mean (± S.D) Hb values (g/dl) of control and study groups prior to intervention, after 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd month were (11.878 ± 0.46, 11.754 ± 0.61), (11.91 ± 0.50, 11.837 ± 0.60), (11.88 ± 0.53, 11.93 ± 0.65), (11.87 ± 0.66, 12.107 ± 0.63) respectively. The results showed no significant difference between study and control groups by comparing baseline data with the 1^st month while showed significant difference by comparing baseline data with 2nd and 3^rd month of intervention. The study suggests that the hemoglobin status of adolescent girls was significantly improved by consuming wheat flour fortified with ferrous sulphate.

Iron Fortification, Ferrous Sulphate, Hemoglobin Level, Wheat Flour

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