In this study, a majority was mild to moderately anemic and none of the girls was severely anemic. Further, in this article we have looked at the mean change in the cognitive scores of initially anemic girls. These girls were not compared with their non-anemic counterparts as very few girls were non-anemic on whom cognition test scores were available both before and after the intervention in each experimental group.

Secondly, on a program basis, once-weekly IFA (and not daily) in the same adult dose as that given to women (100 mg elemental iron and 0.5 mg folate) is recommended for the adolescent girls nationally in India, provided it is supervised supplementation, which is possible in school settings. For pregnant women, daily IFA is recommended. Various studies have shown significant impact of even weekly IFA on hemoglobin levels of adolescent girls especially the anemic ones(1). Thus, the Government of Gujarat initiated weekly IFA supplementation throughout the state among secondary school girls for anemia control(2). Besides, our study aimed at comparing functional benefits of once-weekly vs. twice weekly IFA since our earlier experience was that for other functional benefits other than anemia control, once-weekly may not suffice.