Iron Deficiency
Iron Deficiency
Don't skip breakfast.
TOP
Avoid food portions larger than your fist.
TOP
Drink water before a meal.
TOP
TOP
Eat a healthy diet that includes fruits, vegetables, and whole grain products. Be sure to control portion sizes.
TOP
TOP
TOP
Learn about nutrition.
Increase the
|
NutritionNutrition is essential for growth and development, health, and well-being. Behaviors to promote health should start early in life with breastfeeding1 and continue through life with the development of healthful eating habits. (For information on breastfeeding, visit the National Women’s Health Information Center.) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Making healthy choices about nutrition contributes substantially to preventing illness and premature death.2 Dietary factors are associated with 4 of the 10 leading causes of death among women: coronary heart disease, some types of cancer, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.3 Nutrition and physical activity are important in healthy weight. (See Steps to Healthier Women’s sections on Obesity and Physical Activity.) Overweight results when a woman eats more calories from food (energy) than she expends, for example, through physical activity. This balance between energy intake and output is influenced by metabolic and genetic factors as well as behaviors affecting dietary intake and physical activity. Environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic components also play a role. The fifth edition of Nutrition and Your Health: Dietary Guidelines for Americans, a joint publication of the U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services and Agriculture, was released on May 30, 2000. The Guidelines provide authoritative advice for people 2 years and older about how good dietary habits can promote health and reduce risk for major chronic diseases. They serve as the basis for Federal food and nutrition education programs. They also serve as a basis for nutrition objectives and their measurements for women. As shown in the chart Fruit, Vegetable, and Grain Consumption, among women consumption patterns vary by age. Data are not broken down by gender and race/ethnicity. However, regardless of race, women do not seem to be eating the minimum recommended servings of fruits, as indicated by the chart Fruits and Vegetables: Average Number of Daily Servings. Healthy People 2010 sets objectives for the intake of fruits, vegetables, grain products, saturated fat, total fat, sodium, and calcium. Some examples are: |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
Women, in particular, need to consume adequate amounts of iron-rich and calcium-rich foods. Women of child-bearing age should maintain an optimum folic acid level.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
Iron
Deficiency Among Females
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
body’s efficient reuse of iron, iron has a relatively small Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA). The RDA of iron for postmenopausal women is 10 milligrams; women of childbearing age (11 to 50 years) as well as nursing mothers require 15 milligrams, and pregnant women 30 milligrams. A multitude of national nutrition surveys report that as many as 90 percent of women do not consume enough iron.4 The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences specifies certain increases in RDAs for pregnant and lactating women (see the chart Recommended Daily Dietary Allowance for Women). More iron is needed not only because of fetal demands, but also because the mother’s blood volume may be increased as much as 30 percent. Because the additional requirement for iron cannot be met by the usual American diet nor by existing stores in many women, iron supplements of 30 to 60 milligrams under supervision of a health care professional are recommended. Source: Food and Nutrition Board, National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council.
Iron Deficiency Among Pregnant FemalesThe terms anemia, iron deficiency, and iron deficiency anemia often are used interchangeably but are not equivalent. Iron deficiency ranges from depleted iron stores without functional or health impairment to iron deficiency with anemia, which affects the functioning of several organ systems. Iron deficiency anemia is more likely than iron deficiency without anemia to cause preterm births, low birth weight, and delays in infant and child development.5, 6, 7 Iron deficiency (with and without anemia) in adolescent females has been associated with decreased verbal learning and memory.8 The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among females aged 12 to 49 years in 1988 to 1994 was 4 percent. The prevalence of iron deficiency among females of childbearing age increased from 1976–1980 to 1988–1994.9 From 1979 to 1996, the prevalence of third trimester anemia among low‑income pregnant females did not change.10, 11 Among pregnant non-Hispanics in their third trimester in 1996, 44 percent of blacks were anemic and 24 percent of whites. For Hispanic pregnant females, the percentage was 25 percent. Among low-income pregnant females the proportion of American Indian/Alaska females with anemia was 31 percent, compared to 26 percent of Asian/Pacific Islander females. Nonpregnant females of childbearing age are at increased risk for iron deficiency because of iron loss during menstruation coupled with inadequate intake of iron.9 Pregnant females are also at increased risk because of the increased iron requirements of pregnancy.11, 12 Consequently, an objective has been established to reduce the prevalence of anemia among low‑income pregnant females in their third trimester. Although groups other than low‑income females are considered at risk for iron deficiency during pregnancy, no nationally representative data exist on the prevalence of iron deficiency or iron deficiency anemia among pregnant females. National data indicate that only one‑fourth of all females of childbearing age (12 to 49 years) meet the U.S. recommended dietary allowance for iron (15 mg) through their diets.13 Iron deficiency among females of childbearing age may be prevented by periodic anemia screening and appropriate treatment and by counseling them about better eating practices, such as selecting iron‑rich foods, taking iron supplements during pregnancy, increasing consumption of foods that enhance iron absorption (for example, orange juice and other citrus products), and discouraging consumption of iron inhibitors (for example, coffee and tea) with iron‑rich foods.12 Some good sources of iron include ready-to-eat cereals with added iron; enriched and whole grain breads; lean meats; turkey dark meat; shellfish; spinach; and cooked dry beans, peas, and lentils.
1 American Academy of Pediatrics, Work Group on Breastfeeding. Breastfeeding and the use of human milk. Pediatrics 100(6):1035-1039, 1997. 2 Frazao, E. The high costs of poor eating patterns in the United States. In Frazao, E., ed. American’s Eating Habits: Changes and Consequences. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Services, AIB-750, 1999.
3 National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS).
Progress
Review Focus Area 19. 4 National Women’s Health Information Center. Anemia FAQs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), 1998. 5 Idjradinata, P., and Pollitt, E. Reversal of developmental delays in iron-deficient anaemic infants treated with iron. Lancet 341(8836):1-4, 1993. 6 Lozoff, B.; Jimenez, E.; Wolf, A.W. Long-term developmental outcome of infants with iron deficiency. New England Journal of Medicine 325(10):687-694, 1991. 7 Scholl, T.O.; Hediger, M.L.; Fischer, R.L.; et al. Anemia vs iron deficiency: Increased risk of preterm delivery in a prospective study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 55(5):985-998, 1992. 8 Bruner, A.B.; Joffe, A.; Duggan, A.K.; et al. Randomized study of cognitive effects of iron supplementation in non-anaemic iron-deficient adolescent girls. Lancet 348(9033):992‑996, 1996. 9 NCHS. Healthy People 2000 Review, 1998–99. DHHS Pub. No. (PHS) 99-1256. Hyattsville, MD: Public Health Service, 1997. 10 Perry, G.S.; Yip, R.; Zyrkowski, C. Nutritional risk factors among low-income pregnant U.S. women: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System, 1979 through 1993. Seminars in Perinatology 19(3):211-221, 1995. 11 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance, 1996. Full report. Atlanta, GA: HHS, CDC, 1998. 12 CDC. Recommendations to prevent and control iron deficiency in the United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 47(RR-3):1-29, 1998. 13 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Agricultural Research Service (ARS). Data tables: Results from USDA’s 1994–96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals and 1994–96 Diet and Health Knowledge Survey. Riverdale, MD: USDA, ARS, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, December 1997. |
Last updated June 2004
Home | About Us | Contact Us | Site Index | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer | FOIA | Accessibility
Contact NWHIC
or call 1-800-994-WOMAN
NWHIC is a service of
the
U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services'
Office
on Women's Health