Korean J Hematol.  2003 Nov;38(4):240-245.

Iron Status in Adolescent Female Athletes

• Kim SK
• Kim CS
• Choi JW
• Cho MH
• Kim KH
• Chang KJ

Abstract

BACKGROUND
This study was aimed at assessing iron nutrition and lipid panel in adolescent female athletes, which were compared with those in general adolescent students.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Physical measurement and blood examination were done from adolescent female athletes (N=83) and apparently healthy students (N=758). Anemia was defined as a hemoglobin less than 12g/dL. Iron deficiency was defined as a serum ferritin concentration<10ng/mL. The diagnosis of iron deficiency anemia (IDA) was established when a low hemoglobin level (Hb<12g/dL) was associated with ferritin<10ng/mL and/or transferrin saturation<10%.
RESULTS
The prevalence of anemia in female athletes aged 11 to 14 years was 22.2%, which was significantly higher than that of comparison group (10.1%). However, there were no significant differences in proportion of iron deficiency (20% vs. 27.4%) and IDA (15.6% vs. 8.9%) between two groups. The prevalence of anemia in female athletes aged 15 to 19 years was 26.3%. The prevalence of iron deficiency and IDA were 31.6% and 21.1%, respectively, which were not significantly different from the comparison group. The mean triglyceride level in the athlete girls was lower than the comparison group. And the mean HDL cholesterol level was higher than the comparison group.
CONCLUSION
As the prevalence of iron deficiency and IDA is relatively common in adolescent female athletes, the measurement of iron nutrition is warranted in these groups with nutritional education.

Keyword

Anemia; Iron deficiency; Adolescents; Serum ferritin; Transferrin saturation; Female athletes

MeSH Terms

Adolescent*
Anemia
Anemia, Iron-Deficiency
Athletes*
Cholesterol, HDL
Diagnosis
Education
Female*
Ferritins
Humans
Iron*
Prevalence
Transferrin
Triglycerides
Cholesterol, HDL
Ferritins
Iron
Transferrin