Iron deficiency in Burmese population groups

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Abstract
The iron nutritional status of the Burmese was assessed by determining the incidence of iron-deficiency anemia in several population groups in Burma totaling 4,838 subjects and also by measurement of nonhemoglobin iron concentration in 108 liver specimens obtained from sudden deaths in Rangoon. Taking the Hb concentration of 11 g/100 ml arbitarily as the cut-off point for anemia and a serum iron value less than 50 µg/100 ml as deficient, the prevalence of iron-deficiency anemia was observed to be 13 to 24% among pregnant women, 5 to 15% among women generally, 3 to 27% in children, and 1 to 5% among men. There was a good positive correlation between Hb concentration and serum iron values. A controlled therapeutic trial showed a significant response to orally administered iron in anemic individuals with deficient serum iron levels. From the autopsy material it was found that the nonhemoglobin iron concentration in liver was 173 µg/g wet wt in 40 adult males and 59 µg/g wet wt in 17 adult females. Liver iron stores were low at birth and rose to a low plateau in adults, when compared with other ethnic groups except Indians. Dietary iron intake ranged from 9 to 32 mg/capita per day. The incidence of hookworm ova in stools ranged from 0 to 70% depending upon the locality, but no correlation was found between hookworm infection and anemia in the Burmese population groups studied so far.

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