Distribution of iron status among urban Chinese women.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES To assess the distribution of serum ferritin, serum soluble transferrin receptor and body iron among girls and women by age and anaemia. METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN Serum ferritin, serum soluble transferrin receptor and high sensitive C-reactive protein of 1625 and 1372 women in general and anaemic were measured in the National Health and Nutrition Survey commenced in 2010. RESULTS The distributions of serum ferritin, serum soluble transferrin receptor and body iron for 6-11-y, 12-17-y, 18-44-y, 45-59-y and >=60-y subgroups were significantly different. Both in population-representative women and those anaemic, the iron status of 18-44-y women was the lowest and that of 12-17-y girls the second lowest. The iron status of anaemic women was lower than that in representative women at ages 12-17 y, 18-44 y, 45-59 y and >=60 y. CONCLUSION Iron status in women of different ages and anaemic had different distributions, but consistently lower than that of population-representative women. The observed iron status of Chinese urban women supports program planning for iron nutrition promotion in women. Iron status information is also needed for men and to understand the pathogenesis which may be related to intake or loss.