Dietary treatment of iron deficiency in women of childbearing age

Background: The Australian Iron Status Advisory Panel advocates dietary int ervention as the first treatment option for mild iron deficiency [serum fer ritin (SF) = 10-15 mug/L]. However, there appear to be no studies on the ef ficacy of dietary treatment for iron deficiency. Objective: We compared the effects of iron supplementation and of a high-ir on diet on serum ferritin (SF) and hemoglobin in iron-deficient women of ch ildbearing age. Design: Forty-four iron-deficient women (SF < 15 mug/L or SF = 15-20 mug/L plus serum iron < 10 mu mol/L and total-iron-binding capacity > 68 mu mol/L ) and 22 iron-replete women (hemoglobin greater than or equal to 120 g/L an d SF > 20 mug/L) matched for age and parity categories were enrolled and co mpleted 7-d weighed food records at baseline. The iron-deficient women were randomly allocated to receive iron supplementation (105 mg/d; supplement g roup) or a high-iron diet (recommended intake of absorbable iron: 2.25 mg/d ; diet group) for 12 wk. Hematologic and dietary assessments were repeated at the end of the intervention and again after a 6-mo follow-up. Results: Mean SF in the supplement group increased from 9.0 +/- 3.9 mug/L a t baseline to 24.8 +/- 10.0 mug/L after the intervention and remained stabl e during follow-up (24.2 +/- 9.8 mug/L whereas the diet group had smaller i ncreases during the intervention (8.9 +/- 3.1 to 11.0 +/- 5.9 mug/L) but co ntinued to improve during follow-up (to 15.2 +/- 9.5 mug/L). Mean hemoglobi n tended to improve in both intervention groups, but the change was only si gnificant in the supplement group. Conclusions: In iron-deficient women of childbearing age, a high-iron diet produced smaller increases in SF than did iron supplementation but resulted in continued improvements in iron status during a 6-mo follow-up.