High Prevalence of Iron Deficiency Exhibited in Internationally Competitive, Non-Professional Female Endurance Athletes—A Case Study

Stacy T. Sims, Kelsi Mackay, Alana Leabeater, Anthea Clarke, Katherine Schofield and Matthew Driller ()
Additional contact information
Stacy T. Sims: WHISPA High Performance Sport New Zealand, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Kelsi Mackay: Te Huataki Waiora, Faculty of Health, Sport and Human Performance, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
Alana Leabeater: Sport, Performance, and Nutrition Research Group, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia
Anthea Clarke: Sport, Performance, and Nutrition Research Group, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia
Katherine Schofield: WHISPA High Performance Sport New Zealand, Auckland 0632, New Zealand
Matthew Driller: Sport, Performance, and Nutrition Research Group, School of Allied Health, Human Services and Sport, La Trobe University, Melbourne 3086, Australia

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 24, 1-7

Abstract: Background: While iron deficiency is commonly discussed in populations of professional female athletes, less is known about highly trained, sub-elite female athletes (e.g., those winning international age-group competitions) who generally have less access to medical and allied health support. Methods: Thirteen non-professional highly trained female endurance athletes provided training diaries and completed a blood test, where iron markers of haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), C-reactive protein (Crp), serum iron, serum ferritin, and transferrin were assessed. Resting metabolic rate (RMR) and body composition using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) were also obtained. Participants were classified as iron deficient (ID) if serum ferritin was <30 ug/L serum ferritin. Results: Six of the 13 females were classified as ID. Serum iron, ferritin, Hb, Hct, and ferrin were greater in the ID group ( p < 0.05). Crp resulted in large to very large correlations with serum iron ( r = −0.72), serum ferritin ( r = −0.66), and transferrin ( r = 0.70). Conclusions: In this population of highly trained female athletes, 46% were diagnosed with sub-optimal iron levels, which could have lasting health effects and impair athletic performance. The need for more education and support in non-professional athletes regarding iron deficiency is strongly advised.

Keywords: REDs; energy deficiency; anaemia; women’s health (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16606/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/24/16606/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:24:p:16606-:d:999493

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().