Relationship between dietary intake and iron nutritional status in chilean women of childbearing age from a university community

Abstract

Objectives: To relate dietary intake of iron with iron status in a sample of women of childbearing age from Santiago de Chile. Methods: A Food Frequency Survey was applied to 51 women between 18-35 years of age to estimate intake of dietary iron, together with the measurement of biochemical biomarkers to determine iron stores. Using the Mann-Whitney statistical test, significant differences were analyzed between the groups according to nutritional status of iron and its blood parameters. Results: Thirty seven of the participants (72.5%) do not meet the recommended daily iron intake. Two had anemia, 2 had iron deficiency without anemia, and twelve had depleted iron stores. Three women with deficient iron stores had an adequate iron intake, while 71% of women with normal iron stores showed an insufficient iron intake. Conclusions: We observed a low compliance with the daily iron requirements and no better hematological values ​were associated with higher iron intake, despite a high percentage of women with normal iron stores. To identify the type of iron mainly contributed by the diet and if there are other dietary and non-dietary factors affecting iron stores, further analysis of this population group is required.