Objective: To study the prevalence of anemia among adolescent boys and correlate the socio-demographic profile with the prevalence. Materials and Method: Cross sectional population (N=500) for the study purpose was taken from schools of Vallabh Vidyanagar. The hemogram reports were assessed by the automated Hematology analyzer from a reputed pathological laboratory of Vallabh Vidyanagar. The statistical analysis was done using the SPSS 15.0 version for windows. Results: About 31.4 % were mildly anemic, 4% were moderately anemic and only 1.6% were severely anemic. In bivariate analysis factors like source of drinking water, symptoms like headache, dizziness etc. type of beverage consumption, consumption of Vit-C rich foods and use of iron supplements showed a significant association (P≤0.05) with anemia. While multiple logistic regression analysis suggested that age (OR=0.719, CI = 0.567-0.911), type of accommodation (OR=3.782, CI=1.255-11.397), source of drinking water (hand-pump), pallor of eyes and pale nails were the most important predictors of anemia. Conclusion: Anemia remains to be a silent monster irrespective of the gender. Awareness programme and educating the adolescents may help to combat the devil bothering the whole world particularly under developed and developing countries.
