Anemia is a condition of red blood cell count below the normal threshold that serves as carrying oxygen to the body and remains a major public health problem worldwide, especially in developing countries.1–5 In 2016 33% of women of childbearing age suffered from anemia, with the highest prevalence in Asia and Africa.6

Causes of anemia include nutritional deficiencies, especially iron, vitamin A, B vitamins, folic acid, chronic inflammation, parasitic infections, and congenital conditions.1,7,8 But iron deficiency is considered the leading cause worldwide.4,7–14

Young women are a vulnerable group of iron deficiency anemia due to the relatively high need for iron caused by growth, sexual maturity, and menstruation.9,13,15 In addition, the lack of iron intake from foods consumed daily also increases the chances of anemia. This is associated with consumption patterns due to dieting to manage the body.16–19

Basic Health Research Results (Riskesdas) 2018 reported as many as 48.9% of cases of anemia, with the most significant proportion occurring in vulnerable age 15–24 years.20 The impact of iron deficiency on adolescents affects cognitive development and physical growth 5, 21–26 adversely.

If anemia in young women is not immediately resolved and continues, it will affect its intelligence and capture, especially a teenager still in its infancy and development.21 In addition, it will be a significant risk to become an anemic mother and have a 1.8 times greater risk of postpartum bleeding.22–24 Then the impact of anemia will be carried away until becoming a pregnant woman will increase the risk of Stunted Fetal Growth, premature childbirth, and Low Birth Weight and result in stunting in children.9,25,26

By looking at the incidence rate and the impact of anemia on adolescents still high, proper countermeasures are still very important to give birth to the next generation of the nation, especially the preparation to be a mother. Good anemia management if risk factors can be known early.

Using Literature studies, scientific article searches use data-based such as ScienceDirect, Pubmed, and Google Scholar with a range of years 2019–2021. Data collection using ScienceDirect data-based was done by entering the keyword “Prevalence Anemia Adolescent Girl” in 2019–2021 obtained 537 articles after filtering with research articles obtained 183 articles, open access articles as many as 53 articles. Furthermore, the search for data using Pubmed by entering the keyword anemia “prevalence or anemia or adolescent or girls” obtained as many as 67,818 articles after additional filters related to species, language, sex, journal, research articles, and open access obtained as many as 17. Further approval using google scholar data-based by entering the keyword “prevalence anemia adolescent girls” obtained 8470 articles then filtered title, abstract, and year obtained 94 articles (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.

Article search strategy.

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Of the three data-based used, 164 articles were found to be screening full text, double publication, and eligibility obtained as many as 40 articles. Then the final process is to read and select articles based on the criteria obtained 20 relevant articles (Table 1). Articles are evaluated based on:

• 1.

  Inclusion criteria

  • a.

    Article discussing the incidence rate and early detection of anemia in young women

  • b.

    Year publication 2019–2021

  • c.

    International and national publications

  • d.

    National Journal has ISSN

  • e.

    Articles using Indonesian and English

  • f.

    Original articles, full text, and open access

• 2.

  Exclusion criteria

  • a.

    Articles other than Indonesian and English

  • b.

    Do not have ISSN for national journal

  • c.

    Literature review, systematic review, and RCT

Several articles related to this study are presented in Table 1 as follows.

Adolescence is growing rapidly, so it requires a balanced intake of nutrients. In fact, all that is considered is the intake of macronutrients and not paying attention to micronutrients. In contrast, many children in adolescence have anemia, namely lack of micronutrients in iron.19,47,48 If this situation continues, it will cause teenagers to experience problems that result in a decrease in youth productivity. The declining productivity of adolescents will cause the quality of existing human resources to decline. In general, it will also affect the quality of the successor of this nation.

Literature review results show that anemia in young women is still a serious problem that has not been resolved until now, even with the government's blood-added tablet program in addition to the improper way of consuming Fe tablets, poor adherence, and the lack of adequate nutritional improvement among young women. In addition, young women's knowledge of anemia also needs to be improved to raise awareness to take precautions against anemia.49,50 Early detection as an effort to screen the initial incidence of anemia in young women can be developed to become easier.

The study results generally mention that anemia in young women occurs as a result of lack of nutrient intake, especially iron (Fe) and vitamin C and diet such as breakfast habits and bad habits such as improper dietary habits and consumption of Fe absorption inhibitors. There is a close relationship between diet and the incidence of anemia. A poor diet such as not having breakfast, adequate intake of iron, protein, and vitamin C that is less resulting in the incidence of anemia.27,33,41

The nutritional status of young women is also one of the triggering factors for anemia. Malnutrition status is one of the risk factors for anemia. Young women often do not pay attention to food consumption, so they often eat unhealthy foods such as fried foods and fast food. Young women often go on unhealthy diets and, without the supervision of a doctor or nutritionist, can interfere with the growth and nutrients the body needs. Young women also drink mostly tea or coffee less than an hour after meals, which can interfere with iron absorption, affecting hemoglobin levels.27

Anemia in young women has a major impact on their health, including resulting in irregular menstruation, and if left unchecked, it will result in the reproductive health of young women who are future mothers-to-be. This is a real action to prevent and treat anemia in young women. However, it should be realized that anemia in young women can only be done by using hb examination equipment in health facilities, while young women in Indonesia are still very few who come to health facilities if they feel they are not sick. So there needs to be a breakthrough in early detection of anemia, among others, by utilizing the current technological advances for early detection of anemia that can be used anytime and anywhere.36

Technological advances in today's digital age can help humans in various fields, including in the implementation of early detection of anemia that relies on diagnosis based on the symptoms experienced. Smartphones have become one of the most widely used technologies in everyday life, especially teenagers today51,52 which can be a medium to conduct early detection of anemia and information delivery more practically and efficiently when compared to print media in the form of sheets or leaflets.53 This is in line with Budianto's research which mentions that the use of android to increase the knowledge and support of husbands in exclusive breastfeeding is more effective compared to lecture methods.54

Android-based apps and using smartphones can be accessed anytime and anywhere so that their use becomes easier. Nowadays, almost all teenagers have smartphones, and they become active users. In a day, teenagers can use smartphones for 6–8h that are usually used to access social media, play games, the internet, or just message. Thus, many people, especially teenagers, think smartphones have become an important part of their lives. This can be used to make smartphones a medium for interpreting and acting on reminders and can detect differences over time as monitoring actions.55

From the entire literature reviewed, nutritional status greatly influences the incidence of anemia suffered, and young women are a target for the best intervention. Early detection and use of technology are smart solutions offered.

The authors declare no conflict of interest.