In the United States, where meat consumption is generally high, most people have little difficulty meeting the Recommended Dietary Allowance for iron—the exception to this is girls and women who are menstruating. The USDA Continuing Survey of Food Intakes by Individuals in 1996 revealed that the average iron intake for females aged 20 and over was 13 milligrams (5 milligrams less than the RDA); for males it was 19 milligrams. Only supplement children with iron if prescribed by a physician.
Additional data from this survey, which averaged food intake over two days, showed that the RDA for iron was met by only 20 percent of women aged 40 to 49, 27 percent of females aged 12 to 29, and only 32 percent of those aged 30 to 39. This “snapshot” look at iron intake does not reveal how many of these females had iron deficiency. In addition, had the survey been conducted on different days, the results could very well have shown adequate iron consumption. Nevertheless, surveys such as this are some of the best tools we have to indicate probable areas where nutrient intakes don’t match up with needs.
Iron Deficiency
Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency in the United States and worldwide, affecting mainly older infants, young children, and females of childbearing age. In developing countries it’s estimated that 30 to 40 percent of young children and premenopausal women are deficient in iron. In the United States, the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, conducted in 1991, showed that about 5 percent of children aged 1 to 2 had iron deficiency, and about half of those were anemic as well.
Breastfed infants can be at risk if they aren’t receiving supplemental iron or aren’t eating
iron-fortified foods. Women in the childbearing years require about twice the iron of men in order to cover menstrual blood losses. Adolescent females are particularly at risk for deficiency because they’re growing and they’re losing blood. Individuals who have suffered blood loss (i.e., from an accident) are also at risk for iron deficiency.
A person who is iron deficient is n’t automatically anemic; iron deficiency progresses in three stages. First, iron stores in the bone marrow, liver, and spleen are depleted. Next, red blood cell production is reduced, and finally, hemoglobin production falls, resulting in anemia. Blood tests can diagnose iron deficiency in any of these stages.
Iron Toxicity
Too much iron is just as serious a problem as too little. Excessive iron intake can result in a number of health problems in both the short term and the long term.
Iron poisoning, or toxicity, can result from an excessive dose of iron from supplements. This mainly happens in children who swallow iron supplements intended for their mothers or other women in the household. Vomiting and bloody diarrhea—the first signs of iron poisoning—can lead to gastrointestinal tract damage.
Source: http://www.jctonic.com/include/minerals/iron.htm http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/minerals/iron/
