Table 2.
Comparison of intake of various forms of iron along with that of iron intake from various sources in the national sample of Polish adolescents, in the sub-groups of female and male respondents.
| Intake of Iron | Female Respondents (n = 1385) | Male Respondents (n = 1025) | p-Value ** | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intake (%) | Mean ± SD | Median (25th–75th) | Intake (%) | Mean ± SD | Median (25th–75th) | |||
| Intake of various forms of iron | Total iron (mg) | 100 | 12.78 ± 7.06 | 11.01 (7.88–15.66) * | 100 | 17.66 ± 9.21 | 15.57 (10.97–22.55) * | <0.001 |
| Heme-iron (mg) | 13.1 | 1.68 ± 1.53 | 1.17 (0.71–2.13) * | 17.2 | 3.03 ± 2.17 | 2.44 (1.48–4.06) * | <0.001 | |
| Non-heme iron (mg) | 86.9 | 11.10 ± 6.05 | 9.67 (6.85–13.75) * | 82.8 | 14.63 ± 7.65 | 12.78 (9.06–18.73) * | <0.001 | |
| Animal iron (mg) | 32.9 | 4.21 ± 3.83 | 2.92 (1.76–5.34) * | 42.9 | 7.58 ± 5.41 | 6.10 (3.69–10.14) * | <0.001 | |
| Plant iron (mg) | 67.1 | 8.57 ± 5.05 | 7.47 (5.12–10.58) * | 57.1 | 10.09 ± 6.07 | 8.73 (5.67–12.99) * | <0.001 | |
| Intake of iron from various sources | Cereals (mg) | 27.9 | 3.57 ± 2.27 | 3.07 (2.04–4.55) * | 25.5 | 4.51 ± 3.19 | 3.80 (2.25–5.99) * | <0.001 |
| Meat products (mg) | 25.9 | 3.30 ± 5.67 | 2.03 (0.98–4.32) * | 34.8 | 6.14 ± 7.51 | 4.75 (2.53–8.21) * | <0.001 | |
| Vegetables (mg) | 17.3 | 2.22 ± 2.05 | 1.60 (0.79–2.89) * | 14.0 | 2.48 ± 2.39 | 1.89 (0.97–3.93) * | 0.059 | |
| Nuts (mg) | 8.1 | 1.03 ± 1.40 | 0.72 (0.00–1.45) * | 6.0 | 1.05 ± 1.55 | 0.72 (0.00–1.45) * | 0.966 | |
| Fruit (mg) | 5.6 | 0.72 ± 0.65 | 0.56 (0.37–0.92) * | 4.0 | 0.70 ± 0.69 | 0.46 (0.28–0.92) * | 0.012 | |
| Cocoa products (mg) | 4.1 | 0.52 ± 0.56 | 0.36 (0.18–0.67) * | 3.5 | 0.62 ± 0.69 | 0.42 (0.21–0.79) * | 0.001 | |
| Eggs (mg) | 4.1 | 0.52 ± 0.50 | 0.47 (0.31–0.63) * | 5.0 | 0.89 ± 0.93 | 0.63 (0.31–1.10) * | <0.001 | |
| Potatoes (mg) | 2.9 | 0.37 ± 0.36 | 0.29 (0.21–0.43) * | 3.1 | 0.55 ± 0.61 | 0.36 (0.21–0.64) * | <0.001 | |
| Dairy products (mg) | 2.1 | 0.27 ± 0.19 | 0.24 (0.15–0.35) * | 2.0 | 0.35 ± 0.28 | 0.28 (0.18–0.44) * | <0.001 | |
| Fat (mg) | 1.1 | 0.14 ± 0.13 | 0.11 (0.06–0.17) * | 1.0 | 0.17 ± 0.22 | 0.11 (0.06–0.20) * | 0.103 | |
| Fish products (mg) | 0.9 | 0.11 ± 0.16 | 0.06 (0.00–0.13) * | 1.1 | 0.20 ± 0.27 | 0.13 (0.01–0.22) * | <0.001 | |
* Nonparametric distribution (verified using Shapiro–Wilk test; p ≤ 0.05), ** compared using Mann–Whitney U test (due to nonparametric distribution).