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. 2013 Jun 11;12:80. doi: 10.1186/1475-2891-12-80

Table 7.

Micronutrient deficiencies among pregnant Peruvian women in comparison with pregnant women from 2003–04 NHANES1-2

Biochemical indicators Deficient cut-off concentration Peruvian pregnant women
NHANES pregnant women
Trimester 1
Trimester 2
Trimester 3
Deficient Total %3 Deficient Total % Deficient Total % Deficient Total %
Ferritin
≤ 15 ng/mL4 (33.7 pmol/L)
5
78
6.4
27
61
44.3
38
53
71.7
92
250
36.8
Selenium
≤ 70 ng/mL (0.90 μmol/L)5
0
78
0.0
0
64
0.0
1
62
1.6
0
2
0.0
Transferrin saturation ≤ 16%4 10 78 12.8 29 63 46.0 31 40 77.5 100 251 39.8

1Of the 16 maternal biochemical indicators analyzed for this study, only 5 have clinically deficient definitions established: retinol, α-tocopherol, ferritin, selenium, and transferrin saturation. Since none of the Peruvian women were clinically deficient in retinol and α-tocopherol, these values are omitted.

2Micronutrient deficiency definitions do not necessarily pertain to newborns; therefore, cord serum was not included.

3% = deficient women/total women × 100.

4(23).

5(24).