After five months of basic military training, the proportion of female recruits with iron deficiency had more than doubled, from 25% to 55%. According to the researchers, this study calls for increased attention and action to improve iron levels. The study, published in the journal BMJ Military Health, is based on surveys of conscripts at the Command and Control Regiment in Enköping.
The regiment is a common resource in command and control for the entire Swedish Armed Forces. The study measured the iron levels at baseline and after five months of basic military training. Out of 112 women and 148 men at the first measurement, a majority, 58 women and 104 men, volunteered to participate in a second round of sampling and testing.
The study shows that the prevalence of iron deficiency, around 25%, is as high among female conscripts as in the rest of society for the given age group. The same was true for the proportion of women with anemia due to iron deficiency, known as iron deficiency anemia, with an incidence of 8%. Remarkably, the proportion of female conscripts with iron deficiency more than doubled, from 25 to 55% over the five-month study period.
The proportion of conscripted men with iron deficiency increased from 4 to 7 percent. Levels of hemoglobin, often abbreviated as Hb, generally increased during the study period. Hemoglobin is responsible for oxygen transport in the blood.
However, levels of ferritin, a measure of iron deposits in the body, fell in both women and.