Obesity and iron status in menstruating women

The relationship between iron stores and obesity in menstruating women was studied in 20 obese and 20 nonobese women matched for age and contraception. Although no difference was observed in serum iron or total-iron-binding capacity, the obese group showed significantly higher hemoglobin (137 +/- 9 vs 10 g/L, mean +/- SD; P less than 0.01), hematocrit (0.41 +/- 0.02 vs 0.39 +/- 0.03, P less than 0.05), and serum ferritin concentrations (48.0 +/- 44.3 vs 25.8 +/- 19.5 micrograms/L, P less than 0.05). There was no difference between obese and nonobese women in either the menstrual-cycle interval or the duration of the menstrual flow. Iron intake was significantly higher in the obese group (15.9 +/- 2.9 vs 14.1 +/- 2.9 mg/d, P less than 0.05). These results suggest that obese menstruating women are at low risk of depleting iron stores, possibly because of high iron intake. Iron-fortification programs might thus be undesirable in such subjects.