Micronutrient status in anemic and non-anemic Chinese women in the third trimester of pregnancy

Background: Anemia is a major nutrition related problem in China. In addition to iron deficiency this may be due to deficiencies of other micronutrients. Objective: To describe the micronutrient status of anemic and non-anemic pregnant women in China. Subjects and Methods: 734 clinically normal pregnant women in the third trimester aged 20-35, were randomly recruited from the population of pregnant women regularly receiving pregnant examination in community medical centers. Serum concentrations of vitamins A, B-12 and C, iron and zinc status parameters, and vitamin B-2 in urine were determined. Subjects were categorized according to the presence or absence of anemia and compared according to micronutrient status. Results: Serum concentrations of iron and micronutrients were significantly lower in anemic women than non-anemic women: serum iron 909 mu g/L versus 1109 mu g/L, ferritin 13.8 mu g/L versus 19.6 mu g/L, vitamin C 308.9 mu g/L versus 388.1 mu g/dL, and retinol 50.0 mu g/dL versus 59.3 mu g/dL. Zinc concentrations were also lower in anemic women. Subnormal serum iron (