Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

Iron deficiency in older people: Interactions between food and nutrient intakes with biochemical measures of iron; further analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of people aged 65 years and over

Abstract

Objective: To quantitatively investigate relationships between food consumption, nutrient intake and biochemical markers of iron status in a population of older people.

Design: National Diet and Nutrition Survey: cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative population of men and women aged 65 y and over.

Setting: Mainland Great Britain

Subjects: 1268 participants (651 men and 617 women) who provided both dietary intake and blood biochemistry. 986 were living in private households and 282 were living in residential or nursing homes.

Results: Intakes of alcohol, vitamin C, protein, haem and non-haem iron and fibre were positively associated with iron status. Consumption of meat, poultry and fish were positively associated with six measures of iron status, and vegetables and potatoes with four measures. Calcium, dairy foods and tea generally had a negative association with most measures of iron status.

Conclusions: A varied diet containing meat, poultry and fish, vegetables and fruit, with a moderate intake of alcohol will make a positive contribution to the iron status of elderly people.

Sponsorship: Wendy Doyle was supported by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Contributions

Contributors: Wendy Doyle undertook the data analysis and wrote an initial draft of the manuscript; Helen Crawley and Helen Roberts provided statistical advice and comment on the manuscript; Christopher Bates was responsible for biochemical analysis.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Doyle, W., Crawley, H., Robert, H. et al. Iron deficiency in older people: Interactions between food and nutrient intakes with biochemical measures of iron; further analysis of the National Diet and Nutrition Survey of people aged 65 years and over. Eur J Clin Nutr 53, 552–559 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600787

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ejcn.1600787

Keywords

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links