THE FEMALE SPANISH POPULATION - A GROUP AT RISK OF NUTRITIONAL IRON-DEFICIENCY

Iron deficiency is one of the most common nutritional problems in the world. It is frequent in both developed and developing countries and m ainly affects women of childbearing age. The aim of the present study was to investigate the prevalence of iron deficiency in a group of you ng women from Madrid, Spain. The study subjects were a group of 130 wo men aged between 19 and 35 (24.53 +/- 0.24 years). Measurements were m ade of iron intake and also of the haematological and biochemical indi cators of iron status. 10.7% of subjects showed iron deficiency (defin ed as the recording of at least two indicator parameters with values b elow normal). The high incidence of iron deficiency at blood level (10 .7%) coincided with the low iron intake of these subjects (11.08 +/- 2 .98 mg/day). 98.3% of subjects showed intakes below recommended. Obser ved intake covered only 61.6% of recommended intake. 3.9% of subjects presented ferropenic anaemia, i.e. they showed both iron deficiency an d low haemoglobin levels.