Situacion de la nutricion de hierro en la embarazada adolescente al inicio de la gestacion

The frequency of anemia and iron nutrition deficiency was assessed in 342 low socioeconomic level pregnant teenagers at entry to prenatal care in 5 outpatient clinics from a South Orient area of Santiago Chile. According to the Center for Disease Control Criteria, 1.2 percent of women had iron deficiency anemia. Iron stores were insufficient (defined by a serum ferritin lower than 20 g/L) in 55 percent for women and depleted (serum ferritin lower than 10 g/L) in 21 percent. Women with more than 14 weeks of gestation had lower packed red cell volumes, hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volumes and ferritin levels that women with less than 14 of gestation. It is concluded that the prevalence of iron deficiency anemia is lower than that predicted for a highly vulnerable group but the high frequency of low iron stores should encourage the use of iron supplementation in these teenagers