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Iron status and its association with pregnancy outcome in Korean pregnant women

European Journal of Clinical Nutrition volume 60, pages 1130–1135 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia among Korean pregnant women and to assess the association between maternal hemoglobin (Hb) level and pregnancy outcome.

Design:

A longitudinal study.

Setting:

Ewha Womans University Hospital, Seoul, Korea.

Subjects:

A total of 248 normal pregnant women of 24–28 weeks gestation and 190 babies born to the pregnant subjects.

Methods:

Maternal anthropometry, blood parameters and pregnancy outcomes were measured.

Results:

Mean Hb, serum iron concentration, transferrin saturation and total iron binding capacity of the subjects were 11.4 g/dl, 89.4 μg/dl, 18.7% and 484.6 μg/dl, respectively, and 30.2% of the subjects were anemic judged by Hb concentration of <10.5g/dl. When subjects were classified into tertile groups based on Hb levels, the lowest tertile (HbT1) group had significantly lower concentrations of cord serum iron and albumin than those in the highest tertile (HbT3) group. Newborn infants from the HbT1 group had significantly higher rates of preterm delivery, low birth weight and low Apgar scores than those in other groups. Logistic regression analysis showed that maternal serum albumin and Hb level were the most important predictive variables for low birth weight.

Conclusions:

A substantial proportion of Korean pregnant women were at risk of anemia. Infants born to women with a low Hb level showed a lower birth weight, height and Apgar scores.

Sponsorship:

This study was supported by a grant from the Korea Health 21 R&D project, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea (no. 01-PJ1-PG1-01CH15-0009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sports Science, Seoul Sports Graduate University, Seoul, Korea

    H S Lee

  2. Department of Food and Nutritional Sciences, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

    M S Kim, M H Kim & W Y Kim

  3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Korea

    Y J Kim

Authors
  1. H S Lee
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  2. M S Kim
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  3. M H Kim
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  4. Y J Kim
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  5. W Y Kim
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W Y Kim.

Additional information

Guarantor: HS Lee, WY Kim.Contributor: HSL and WYK contributed to the design of the study, subject recruiting and manuscript preparation. MSK and MHK carried out the data analysis and biochemical analyses. YJK was responsible for clinical data collection. WYK was mainly responsible for all stages of the study. All took part in writing this paper.

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Lee, H., Kim, M., Kim, M. et al. Iron status and its association with pregnancy outcome in Korean pregnant women. Eur J Clin Nutr 60, 1130–1135 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602429

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1602429

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