IRON NUTRITION IN INDIAN WOMEN AT DIFFERENT AGES

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 59  (26) , 939-942
Abstract
The Fe status of 320 Indian women living in Chatsworth, Durban, India, who had volunteered for Fe absorption studies, was assessed using a number of measurements. These included: ratio-Fe absorption, the transferrin saturation, the serum ferritin concentration and the Hb concentration. In the sample as a whole, the prevalence of Fe deficiency anemia (Hb concentration < 12 g/dl, with 2 or more abnormal measurements of Fe status) was 14.4%. A further 26% had depleted Fe stores (serum ferritin < 12 .mu.g/l) and 8.4% also had evidence of Fe-deficient erythropoiesis (serum ferritin < 12 .mu.g/l and transferrin saturation below 16%). A profile of Fe status based on the cumulative frequency distribution of Fe stores showed that the sample, with calculated median Fe stores of 15 mg and lower and upper 10 percentiles of -355 and 655 mg, respectively, was significantly more Fe deficient than a sample of women studied in Washington State, USA. Of interest was the observation that all measurements of Fe status were better in the older age groups, presumably as a result of the cessation of menstruation. There was evidence that the duration of menstruation, as volunteered in a brief history, had a significant effect on several measurements of Fe status. This was particularly true of the serum ferritin concentration and radio-Fe absorption, both of which reflect the size of the Fe stores.