Association of Meat Consumption and Iron Deficiency Among Women of Reproductive Age in Sub Saharan Africa

Abstract

Objectives: Globally, it is estimated that about 2 billion people are affected by iron deficiency, with sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) carrying the highest burden. We thus conducted a cross-sectional study to assess whether meat consumption was associated with altered risk of iron deficiency, as assessed by serum transferrin receptor (TfR) levels among women of reproductive aged 15-49 y in Tanzania. Methods: This was a weighted population-based cross-sectional study of 3811 women of reproductive aged 15-49 y in Tanzania using 2010 Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Iron status was assessed using serum TfR. Iron deficiency was defined if TfR levels were >8.3 µg/mL. Number of days of meat intake in a week was assessed through a questionnaire. Prevalence Ratio was calculated using robust multivariable Poisson regression to identify the association between meat intake and iron deficiency, adjusting for age, fish intake, food insecurity, anemia, education status, married status, wealth index, pregnancy status, and breastfeeding status, place of residence, employment status, and geographic zone. Interactions between meat intake, pregnancy and wealth status were conducted. As a secondary analysis, the association between fish intake and iron deficiency was also examined. Results: The overall prevalence of iron deficiency for the present study was 31%. There was a dose-response relation between the number of days/week of meat intake and iron deficiency (P-trend = 0.006). After adjusting for other covariates, women who consumed meat ≥2 times per week were 14% less likely to have iron deficiency [adjusted Prevalence Ratio (aPR): 0.86; 95% CI: 0.76, 0.97] compared to those with low meat consumption (<2 times per week). In contrast, we did not find significant association between fish intake and iron deficiency-the aPR was 1.05 (95% CI: 0.94, 1.18) for ≥2 times of fish vs. (<2 times per week). We did not find significant interaction between meat intake and pregnancy status (P-interaction = 0.80). Lastly, we did not find significant interaction between meat intake and wealth status (P-interaction = 0.09). Conclusions: Prevalence of iron deficiency was high in Tanzania women of reproductive age. Greater consumption of meat, but not fish, was significantly associated with low rates of iron deficiency.