IRON NUTRITIONAL-STATUS IN PREGNANT ADOLE SCENTS DURING THE FIRST HALF OF GESTATION

The frequency of anemia and iron nutrition deficiency was assessed in 342 low socioeconomic level pregnant teenagers at entry to prenatal ca re in 5 outpatient clinics from a South Orient area of Santiago Chile. According to the Center for Disease Control Criteria, 1.2% of women h ad iron deficiency anemia. Iron stores were insufficient (defined as a serum ferritin lower than 20 g/L) in 55% for women and depleted (seru m ferritin lower than 10 g/L) in 21%. Women with more than 14 weeks of gestation had lower packed red cell volumes, hemoglobin, mean corpusc ular volumes and ferritin levels than women with less than 14 of gesta tion. It is concluded that the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is lower than that predicted for a highly Vulnerable group but the high frequency of low iron stores should encourage the use of iron suppleme ntation in these teenagers.