Articles : Frequency of Anemia and Related Nutrient Intakes in High School Runners

Journal of Exercise Nutrition & Biochemistry 2003;7(3):303-310.

Abstract

This study was performed to evaluate the frequency of anemia and related nutrient intakes in Korean high school runners. Thirty-nine male and female adolescent teenage runners Participated in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 16.9±0.9 years. They rook exercise regularly for 4.8±0.7 hrs/day. Male renners had significantly higher red blood cell (RBC) count, hematocrit (HCT), hemoglobin (Hb) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentrations compared to female runners. Long distance runners had significantly lower RBC,HCT and hemoglobin values than sprinters. In female athletes, 44% and 20% of female long distance runners and sprinters had iron-deficiency anemia (<12g Hb/dl & ≤37% HCT). In male athletes, 22% of male long distance renners only had iron-deficiency anemia (<13.5g Hb/dl& ≤40% HCT). When ferritin (<25ng/ml) was used as an index of iron deploetion, 89% and 80% of female and 45% and 29% of male long distance runners and sprinters had iron deficiency. Most iron related nutrient intakes of both male and female runners were above Korean adolescent recommended dietary allowances (RDA). The animal iron intake was higher in sprinters than in long distrance runners. In addition, the animal iron intake of the subjects had strong positive relationships wiht hematocrit, hemoglobin and ferritin of the runners. In conclusion, female and/or long distance urnners had lower blood iron-related indices and higher iron deficiency anemia than male and/or sprinters. probably due to lower animal iron intake and enhanced iron loss following training.

Key Words: anemia, heme iron, hemoglobin, ferritin, nutrient intake, runners