Nutritional status of white college students in Virginia

The nutritional status of the fifty men, fifty-three women, and forty-seven women taking oral contraceptives--all white--between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two years--as reflected by height-weight measurements, hemoglobin-hematocrit values, and dietary records, was similar or slightly better than reported by other investigators. Low hemoglobin values were observed in 2 to 4 per cent of these students, and low hematocrits, in 8 to 17 per cent. Similar hemoglobin and hematocrit values were observed in all women, regardless of whether they were taking oral contraceptives. Exercise patterns; use of vitamin-mineral supplements, "pot," alcoholic beverages, special diets; whether subjects ate alone; where subjects ate; snacking; number of meals consumed daily; whether subjects had ever been diagnosed as being anemic; and what subjects thought of their food habits did not affect hemoglobin or hematocrit. Iron intakes of many of the women students were below the allowance.