Abstract
Background No prior research in Saudi Arabia has examined dietary iron intake and its association with iron status in young women.
Aims This study therefore explored the iron intake, dietary iron sources and iron status of female Saudi university students in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
Methods A cross-sectional study of dietary consumption and iron status used a sample of 200 apparently healthy female students (19-25 years old) on the university campus from February to June 2016.
Results Covariance analyses showed that the prevalence of iron deficiency (ferritin < 15ng/ml) and iron deficiency anaemia (ferritin < 15ng/ml with haemoglobin < 12g/dl) were 50.0 per cent and 12.5 per cent respectively. The three groups' (normal levels of iron; iron deficiency; and iron deficiency anaemia) mean iron intakes fell below recommendations, and the iron deficiency anaemia group's intake was lowest. Different food groups' proportional contributions to total iron intakes varied across the groups, with the iron deficiency anaemia group recording a lower mean consumption of meat-derived foods and a higher mean consumption of plant-derived foods than the other two groups. All three had lower Vitamin C consumption than recommended.
Conclusion Women of childbearing age face a higher iron deficiency risk, so there is a need to encourage dietary routes for treating or avoiding iron deficiency by increasing iron intake (particularly heme iron) and iron absorption enhancers such as vitamin C, and decreasing consumption of iron absorption inhibitors, e.g., phytate.