Table 7.
Comparison of the intake of various forms of iron along with that of iron intake from various sources in the national sample of Polish female adolescents, in the sub-groups of female respondents not applying and applying iron supplementation.
| Intake of Iron | Female Respondents Not Applying Iron Supplementation (n = 1195) | Female Respondents Applying Iron Supplementation (n = 190) | p-Value ** | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Intake (%) | Mean ± SD | Median (25th–75th) | Intake (%) | Mean ± SD | Median (25th–75th) | |||
| Intake of various forms of iron | Total iron (mg) | 100 | 12.56 ± 6.90 | 10.90 (7.77–15.52) * | 100 | 14.32 ± 8.18 | 11.97 (8.86–16.96) * | 0.006 |
| Heme-iron (mg) | 13.2 | 1.66 ± 1.51 | 1.16 (0.70–2.11) * | 12.8 | 1.84 ± 1.67 | 1.25 (0.75–2.25) * | 0.176 | |
| Non-heme iron (mg) | 86.8 | 10.90 ± 5.89 | 9.50 (6.74–13.56) * | 87.2 | 12.48 ± 7.22 | 10.69 (7.85–14.34) * | 0.006 | |
| Animal iron (mg) | 33.0 | 4.15 ± 3.77 | 2.90 (1.76–5.28) * | 32.1 | 4.60 ± 4.18 | 3.11 (1.88–5.61) * | 0.176 | |
| Plant iron (mg) | 67.0 | 8.41 ± 4.88 | 7.36 (5.00–10.44) * | 67.9 | 9.72 ± 6.35 | 8.17 (5.70–11.18) * | 0.011 | |
| Intake of iron from various sources | Cereals (mg) | 27.9 | 3.50 ± 2.20 | 3.01 (1.98–4.45) * | 28.5 | 4.07 ± 2.76 | 3.35 (2.38–5.09) * | 0.007 |
| Meat products (mg) | 2.9 | 3.26 ± 3.56 | 2.00 (0.97–4.26) * | 25.1 | 3.59 ± 3.89 | 2.17 (1.04–4.62) * | 0.322 | |
| Vegetables (mg) | 17.4 | 2.19 ± 2.02 | 1.60 (0.79–2.89) * | 17.0 | 2.43 ± 2.37 | 1.76 (0.79–3.18) * | 0.300 | |
| Nuts (mg) | 8.0 | 1.00 ± 1.35 | 0.55 (0.00–1.45) * | 8.6 | 1.22 ± 1.69 | 0.72 (0.18–1.45) * | 0.111 | |
| Fruit (mg) | 5.5 | 0.69 ± 0.59 | 0.55 (0.28–0.92) * | 6.4 | 0.91 ± 0.91 | 0.64 (0.37–1.02) * | 0.010 | |
| Cocoa products (mg) | 4.1 | 0.52 ± 0.57 | 0.36 (0.18–0.63) * | 4.1 | 0.58 ± 0.54 | 0.45 (0.21–0.79) * | 0.050 | |
| Eggs (mg) | 4.1 | 0.52 ± 0.51 | 0.47 (0.31–0.63) * | 4.0 | 0.57 ± 0.39 | 0.47 (0.31–0.75) * | 0.001 | |
| Potatoes (mg) | 3.0 | 0.37 ± 0.36 | 0.29 (0.21–0.43) * | 2.5 | 0.36 ± 0.35 | 0.29 (0.14–0.43) * | 0.310 | |
| Dairy products (mg) | 2.1 | 0.27 ± 0.19 | 0.24 (0.14–0.34) * | 2.1 | 0.31 ± 0.20 | 0.27 (0.18–0.39) * | 0.003 | |
| Fat (mg) | 1.1 | 0.14 ± 0.14 | 0.11 (0.06–0.17) * | 0.9 | 0.13 ± 0.12 | 0.11 (0.06–0.16) * | 0.585 | |
| Fish products (mg) | 0.9 | 0.11 ± 0.16 | 0.06 (0.00–0.13) * | 0.9 | 0.12 ± 0.17 | 0.06 (0.06–0.18) * | 0.014 | |
* Nonparametric distribution (verified using Shapiro–Wilk test; p ≤ 0.05); ** compared using Mann–Whitney U test (due to nonparametric distribution).