Iron status in spanish junior soccer and basketball players.

Aim: To assess the dietary iron intake and the iron status of Spanish junior athletes and its importance on performance, and to discuss abount the consequences of an iron deficiency. Material and methods: Forty six soccer and eleven basketball players aged 17-21 years (mean age 18.2 + 1.1) who played in the Spanish national junior soccer and basketball league, respectively, who had neither drugs, medicines intake nor illness during the study which altered the appetite or some studies parameters, took part in the study. Dietary intake was assessed by means of a 7-day weighed food intake record. Iron status was evaluated by means of a complete hemogram, serum iron, ferritin, transferrin and TIBC Results: Mean iron intake was 19.24 +/- 4.58 mg/day. Mean analytical data were all between reference ranges. Basketball players had higher intake levels compared with soccer ones (22.1+6.4 and 19.2+3.9 mg/day, respectively; p<0.05). Nevertheless, basketball players had lower levels of mean red blood cells, haemoglobin, hematocrit and the mean corpuscular volumes comparing with soccer players. Conclusions: During adolescence, iron requirements are very high which could place adolescent athletes in a high risk group for iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia. In the current research, the population studied shows an acceptable iron status although there are 3% of iron deficiency anaemia cases.