Will iron supplementation given during menstruation improve iron status better than weekly supplementation?
Februhartanty, J.; Dillon, D.; Khusun, H.
Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition 11(1): 36-41
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 0964-7058 PMID: 11890637 DOI: 10.1046/j.1440-6047.2002.00264.xDocument Number: 262725
To investigate the efficacy of 2 different iron supplements administered either on a weekly basis or during menstruation, a 16-week community experimental study was carried out among postmenarcheal female adolescent students in Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. 48 students received a placebo tablet weekly, 48 other students got an iron tablet weekly and 41 students took an iron tablet for 4 consecutive days during their menstruation cycle. All subjects were given deworming tablets before supplementation. Haemoglobin, serum ferritin, height, weight, mid-upper arm circumference and dietary intake were assessed before and after intervention. The supplementation contributed to a significant improvement in the iron status of the intervention groups compared to the placebo group (P<0.05). In the menstruation group, the haemoglobin concentrations of the anaemic subjects improved significantly (P<0.05) while for the non-anaemic subjects, serum ferritin concentrations also increased significantly (P<0.05). In the weekly group for anaemic and non-anaemic subjects, there was a significant increase in both haemoglobin and serum ferritin concentrations (P<0.05). This study revealed that weekly supplementation of iron tablets continued for 16 weeks contributed a higher improvement to haemoglobin concentration, compared with supplementing iron tablets for 4 consecutive days during menstruation for 4 menstrual cycles. This suggests that weekly iron supplementation is preferable.