OBESITY IS A RISK FACTOR FOR IRON DEFICIENCY AND ANEMIA: A CASE CONTROL STUDY
Amira S. Nassar*, Mohamed F. Allam, Maysa A. Samy and Mohsen A. Gadallah.
Department of Community, Environmental and Occupational Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University.
*
Department of Nutritional Requirement and Growth, National Nutritional Institute.
ABSTRACT:
Background: Rapid dietary and lifestyle changes produce a double burden of
malnutrition. The populations suffer from increasing over consumption of food,
but continue to have high rates of micronutrient deficiencies. Adipose tissue
of obese persons produces increased amount of pro-inflammatory cytokines
contributing to the development of a low-grade systemic inflammation in these
persons.
Aim of the work: to determine the relation between body mass index (BMI) and
hemoglobin (Hg) level, serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC) and C
reactive protein (CRP).
Patient and Methods: study was carried out on 60 women attending the outpatient clinic
of the National Nutrition Institute (Egypt). Participants were divided into two
groups; 30 obese women (case group) and 30 normal weight women (control group).
Diagnosis of obesity was based on BMI >30 [WHO, 2014]. Anemia was diagnosed
according to Hg level, serum iron and TIBC.
Results: The mean age of participant women was 32.82 years (SD 6.65) and
ranged between 18 and 47 years. The mean Hb level of participant women were 11
gm/dl (SD 1.21) and ranged between 8.7 and 13.8 gm/dl. Hb levels showed no
significant difference between obese and normal weight women. Serum iron was
higher in normal weight women compared with obese women (P <0.05). No
significant correlation was observed between BMI and Hb levels. BMI had a
significant negative correlation with serum iron. BMI has significant positive
correlations with TIBC and CRP. Linear regression analysis showed a significant
association between Hb levels and waist hip ratio.
Conclusion: High BMI affected negatively levels of serum iron and is associated
with inflammatory process as indicated by higher levels of CRP. High waist hip
ratio is an important risk factor for anemia.
Key words: Obesity, overweight, BMI, anemia, iron deficiency anemia
Ain
Shams Medical Journal 2021;75(4):891-898
https://asmj.journals.ekb.eg/article_222707_9a4e8866b53089244c47c02b27af75e8.pdf
