Dietary Iron Intake in Relation to Nutritional Anaemia Among Young Iranian Boys and Girls.

Fifty young students, 39 females and 21 males with the Mean ages of 19 - 23 years, were studied to determine if hemoglobin and serum iron differences existed between the two groups and if so whether they were due to dissimilar nutrient intakes. Each subject kept a four day dietary diary and provided a fasting blood sample on the last day of the diary recording. The energy , protein and iron intakes were calculated from the local food composition table.The Mean Rb of women and men were respectively 13.7 ± 1.67 and 14.8±1.32 g/100 and serum iron level were 68.5 and 82.2 mg/100 ml. The Rb and serum iron levels of females were significantly lower than the males. The average energy, protein and iron intakes of women were also showed low­er consumption comparing with men. 54 percent of the females had iron intake lower than the RDA (16-18 mg/day). There was a statistical significant posi­tive correlation between the energy and iron intake. Therefore the low iron intake among the young females could be considered as a consequence of a decrease in their daily energy intake.