Abstract

Introduction: Iron is in oxygen transport which is important for athletic performance. Many female distance runners struggle to maintain adequate iron status through diet alone and rely on iron supplementation.
 Methods: Interviews were conducted with eight members of the Women’s Cross Country team at a Division I university to assess dietary patterns and behaviors related to iron status. This information, along with food records and serum ferritin levels, were analyzed qualitatively for trends with a focus on iron intake, total energy intake, and food components that enhance and inhibit iron absorption.
 Results: All participants took an iron supplement at the time of the study. All but one had experienced poor iron status currently or in the past. Most participants did not meet dietary iron, Vitamin E, or estimated energy requirements. Half of the participants expressed an attempt to increase iron intake in response to higher training loads. Half attempted to increase intake in response to a low ferritin result or iron deficiency symptoms.
 Conclusions: Consistently low energy and iron intake among participants indicated the likelihood of a relationship with poor iron status and/or reliance on supplementation. The most common motivation for increasing iron intake was the prevention of symptoms.

Highlights

  • Iron is in oxygen transport which is important for athletic performance

  • Eight athletes volunteered to participate in the study

  • Subject D – the only participant whose average daily energy intake reached her energy requirements (EER) – had the highest ferritin level. This supports previous findings that low energy intake is a risk factor for poor iron status, regardless of iron intake.[21]. Because this was a common theme among all participants aside from Subject D, it is likely that the athletes’ low energy intake is a possible cause for their low ferritin level and/or dependence on an iron supplement to maintain an optimal level for performance

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Summary

Introduction

Iron is in oxygen transport which is important for athletic performance. Many female distance runners struggle to maintain adequate iron status through diet alone and rely on iron supplementation. Methods: Interviews were conducted with eight members of the women’s cross country team at a division I university to assess dietary patterns and behaviors related to iron status. This information, along with food records and serum ferritin levels, were analyzed qualitatively for trends with a focus on iron intake, total energy intake, and food components that enhance and inhibit iron absorption. Half attempted to increase intake in response to a low ferritin result or iron deficiency symptoms. Conclusions: Consistently low energy and iron intake among participants indicated the likelihood of a relationship with poor iron status and/or reliance on supplementation.

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