Distribution of individual iron metabolism parameters among schoolchildren aged 7–11 years (, overall; , boys; , girls) from Guangzhou, China, 2014–2015 (n 5295): (a) Hb; (b) serum ferritin (SF); (c) serum iron (SI); (d) total iron-binding capacity (TIBC); (e) transferrin saturation (TS). Positive but weak linear correlations between Hb/SI/TIBC levels and age were found by Pearson correlation analysis (Hb v. age, r = 0·09; SI v. age, r = 0·10; TIBC v. age, r = 0·19; all P < 0·05). *P < 0·05, boys v. girls, assessed by one-way ANOVA