Iron Deficiency in the Young Athlete

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Although overt anemia is uncommon, depletion of body iron stores is common among adolescent female athletes. Poor dietary iron intake, menstruation, and increased iron losses associated with physical training all appear to be important factors. Whether nonanemic iron deficiency can impair exercise performance is uncertain. Nonetheless, athletes with low ferritin levels are at risk for impaired erythropoiesis and should receive therapeutic iron supplementation.