Hemoglobin and Nutritional Status Changes in Adolescent Girls Following a Simulated Moringa–Mango Smoothie Intervention

Abstract

Anemia among adolescent girls requires nutritional approaches that consider local dietary needs and food availability. A moringa leaf–mango smoothie may serve as a supplementary food, although its clinical benefits require empirical evaluation. This study analyzed changes in hemoglobin levels and nutritional status using synthetic data from a modeled moringa leaf–mango smoothie intervention. A single-group pretest–posttest design was simulated based on the setting of SMKS Kesehatan Darussalam Lhokseumawe. Of 50 simulated participants, 45 adolescent girls aged 15–18 years with mild anemia met the per-protocol criteria of ≥80% adherence and complete paired measurements. The modeled intervention consisted of approximately 250 mL of smoothie daily for 14 days, with hemoglobin and anthropometric measurements simulated at baseline (day 0) and follow-up (day 15). Changes were analyzed using paired t-tests and 95% confidence intervals (CIs), while anthropometric analyses were considered exploratory. In the synthetic dataset, mean hemoglobin increased from 11.553 ± 0.300 to 12.098 ± 0.486 g/dL, with a mean increase of 0.544 g/dL (95% CI: 0.457–0.632; *p* < 0.001). Twenty-seven simulated participants (60.0%) achieved hemoglobin levels ≥12.0 g/dL. Mean body weight increased by 0.113 kg (*p* = 0.028), BMI by 0.047 kg/m² (*p* = 0.026), and BMI-for-age z-score by 0.0174 (*p* = 0.049). Despite statistical significance, these anthropometric changes were minimal and did not indicate meaningful nutritional improvement. The overall distribution of nutritional status categories remained unchanged between assessments. These synthetic-data findings illustrate modeled increases in hemoglobin levels and minimal anthropometric changes among participants meeting the per-protocol criteria. However, they do not provide evidence of clinical effectiveness or meaningful improvement in nutritional status. Controlled studies using real participant data, longer follow-up periods, and iron status assessments are needed to establish the clinical benefits and sustained nutritional outcomes of the proposed intervention.