PD191 - LESS FAVOURABLE IRON STATUS IN VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE: THE NUTRIFEM STUDY

PD191

LESS FAVOURABLE IRON STATUS IN VEGETARIAN AND VEGAN WOMEN OF CHILDBEARING AGE: THE NUTRIFEM STUDY

Ž. Lavriša^1,2,*, H. Hristov^1,3, N. Hren¹, K. Žmitek^1,4

¹Institute of Nutrition, ²Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, ³National Institute of Public Health, ⁴Faculty of Applied Sciences, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Rationale: Women of childbearing age are at increased risk of iron deficiency, yet Slovenian data are limited, especially for vegetarian and vegan diets. Serum ferritin > 70 µg/L has been proposed to indicate iron reserves sufficient to complete pregnancy without supplementation and may be a particularly relevant marker in women of reproductive age. We therefore described haemoglobin and ferritin status in women participating in the NutriFem study.

Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included women aged 20–49 years in Slovenia: 222 omnivores, 56 vegetarians, 60 vegans. Fasting blood samples were analysed for haemoglobin and ferritin; iron supplement use was recorded. Iron stores were defined as ferritin <15 µg/L and ≥70 µg/L, anaemia as haemoglobin <120 g/L. Chi square and logistic regression was used.

Results: Anaemia was uncommon and mean haemoglobin was similar across groups, but ferritin findings suggested less favourable iron stores in plant-based groups. In omnivores, mean haemoglobin was 134.0 g/L and median ferritin was 38.6 µg/L; 6.8% had anaemia, 11.7% had ferritin <15 µg/L, and 20.7% used iron-containing supplements. In vegetarians, the respective values were 132.7 g/L, 32.9 µg/L, 5.4%, 8.9%, and 42.9%; in vegans, they were 134.0 g/L, 33.0 µg/L, 5.0%, 13.3%, and 31.7%. The proportion with ferritin ≥70 µg/L differed by diet group (χ²=9.62, p=0.022), with lower odds in vegetarians (OR=0.40, 95% CI 0.16–1.00, p=0.049) and vegans (OR=0.37, 95% CI 0.14–0.98, p=0.045) than in omnivores. Iron supplementation was not significantly associated with ferritin status.

Conclusion: Anaemia was uncommon in all three NutriFem groups, but ferritin levels suggested less favourable iron stores in vegetarian and vegan women. Lower odds of ferritin ≥70 µg/L in plant-based groups indicate that ferritin may provide clinically relevant information beyond haemoglobin when assessing iron status in women of reproductive age.

Disclosure of Interest: None declared