IRON STATUS OF FEMALE RUNNERS

This study was designed to observe iron status and prevalence of iron deficient conditions in adult female habitual runners (n=111) and inac tive females of comparable age (n=65). The runners were significantly lower (p<.05) than the reference group in mean serum ferritin (SF), to tal iron binding capacity, and red blood cell count, but significantly higher (p<.05) in mean corpuscular hemoglobin. The groups did not dif fer significantly in hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit, serum iron, percent saturation of transferrin, or red cell protoporphyrin. Chi sq uare analysis indicated that iron depletion (SF <20 ng.ml-1) was signi ficantly more prevalent (p<.005) in the runners than in the controls. Anemia was extremely rare in both groups. A multiple regression analys is revealed significant negative associations between serum ferritin a nd coffee/tea intake (p<.001) and running activity (p<.05). These resu lts indicate that habitual runners, as compared with inactive women, a re at increased risk for iron deficient states but that full-blown ane mia is a rare consequence of this deficient iron status.