To determine whether running imposes an additional iron cost on the female athlete, the response to an identical iron supplementation regime (200 mg elemental iron/day for 12-13.5 weeks) was assessed in two groups of iron deficient females classified as either runners (n=11) or non-runners (n=11). Criteria for selection was iron deficiency (serum ferritin ≤ 20 ng/ml) with an absence of anaemia (haemoglobin ≥12 g/dl). The response to therapy was evaluated on the basis of changes in serum ferritin and haemoglobin levels. Dietary intakes, physical activity and menstruation were monitored by all subjects. Runners averaged 32±8 miles running/week while the non-runners remained relatively sedentary during the supplementation period. Menstrual losses were similar in both groups. There was no significant difference in absorbable iron intake between the groups (p=0.10) and intakes ranged from 0.4-2.6 mg absorbable iron /day. Inadequate iron intakes were clearly demonstrated in 62% of the dietary records. As expected, there was a significant improvement in iron status over the period of oral iron therapy. Although the average overall change in serum ferritin for non-runners was 37.1 ng/ml compared to 26.6 ng/ml for the runners, this was not statistically significant (p=0.29) due to the very large interindividual variability in the change scores. Similarly, there was no significant difference in haemoglobin between the groups when averaged over time (p=0.81) and runners and non-runners demonstrated a similar pattern of change in haemoglobin over the course of supplementation. Regardless of their athletic practices, all females in their reproductive years appear to be at high risk of iron deficiency, primarily due to inadequate nutrition. Regular blood donation was also recognized as a potential contributing factor to the observed iron deficiency in these females, particularly in the non-runners. Because iron deficiency is undesirable for optimal health and well-being, recognition and prevention is highly recommended. Regular monitoring of iron status is particularly important in high performance athletes since a minor deficiency can potentially hinder peak performance and/or lead to the development of anaemia. / Education, Faculty of / Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of / Graduate
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UBC/oai:circle.library.ubc.ca:2429/25149 |
| Date | January 1985 |
| Creators | Sawchuck, Lynne Lorraine |
| Publisher | University of British Columbia |
| Source Sets | University of British Columbia |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, Thesis/Dissertation |
| Rights | For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use. |
Page generated in 0.0016 seconds