Prevalence and risk factors of iron deficiency anemia among female college students

Objective To survey the prevalence and risk factors of iron deficiency anemia(IDA) among female college students and evaluate the healthy life style so as to provide the evidence for formulating the effect intervention measures. Methods From September 2013 to September 2014, a questionnaire survey was carried out in 276 female college students, and the routine blood examinations were also performed. The students whose hemoglobin was lower than 110g/L were reexamined for their iron status including serum iron, serum ferritin, transferrin saturation, and total iron binding capacity. Results The overall prevalence of IDA was 18.01%(49/276), and 51.02% of them(25/49) had mild anemia(90 g/L hemoglobin Hb110 g/L), whereas 19(38.78%) had moderate anemia(60 g/L≤ Hb≤90 g/L) and 5(10.02%)had severe anemia(Hb60 g/L). No relationships were found among excellent achievement students, moderate students and poor students, as well as obese, average height and skinny students(all P 0.05). The students from rural areas had a higher incidence of IDA compared to the students from urban(P 0.05). The female students with high menstrual losses had a higher incidence of IDA compared to the students with normal menstrual losses(P 0.05). the vegetarian students had a significantly higher incidence of IDA compared to non-vegetarians. The students who liked snacks or who had not breakfast had a significantly higher incidence of IDA compared to the students who did not like snacks or who had breakfast. Conclusion IDA is a main health problem among female college students and more researches with a larger sample is needed.