Iron status of adolescent females in three schools in an urban area of Sri Lanka
1990
Sunethra Atukorala, T.M. | De Silva, L.D.R.
Ninety-three females in the age group 14-18 years were randomly selected from three schools in Colombo. Their iron and nutritional status was assessed using clinical, anthropometric, haematological, and biochemical parameters. Haemoglobin levels less than 12 g/dl were seen in 3.7 percent of adolescent females. Free erythrocyte protoporphyrin levels greater than 70 microgram/dl and serum percentage transferrin saturation values less than 16 percent indicate iron deficiency and were seen in 10 percent and 14 percent of the subjects, respectively. Serum ferritin levels less than 12 microgram/l indicate depleted iron stores and were seen in 59 percent of the subjects studied. Our results suggest that although overt anaemia was not common among the subjects studied, a large number of subjects belonging to the lower socio-economic groups were in the early stages of iron deficiency and had depleted iron stores. These subjects are, therefore, at risk of developing clinical manifestations of iron deficiency when the demand for iron is increased, as in pregnancy.
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