Table 4.
Mean body mass index and serum biomarker concentrations by subgroup, subgroup-season, and province.
| Measurement | Urban Male (93 Participants) | Urban Female (96 Participants) | Rural Male (74 Participants) | Rural Female (71 Participants) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | |||||||||
| Mean BMI (kg/m^3) * | 26.9 | 0.4 | 25.5 | 0.4 | 26.0 | 0.5 | 24.6 | 0.5 | ||||||||
| Underweight (<18.5) | 1 | 1.1% | 3 | 3.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 1.4% | ||||||||
| Normal (18.5–25) | 29 | 31.2% | 38 | 39.6% | 35 | 47.3% | 39 | 54.9% | ||||||||
| Overweight (25–30) | 47 | 50.5% | 45 | 46.9% | 29 | 39.2% | 28 | 39.4% | ||||||||
| Obese (30+) | 16 | 17.2% | 10 | 10.4% | 10 | 13.5% | 3 | 4.2% | ||||||||
| Urban Male Summer | Urban Male Winter | Urban Female Summer | Urban Female winter | Rural Male Summer | Rural Male Winter | Rural Female Summer | Rural Female Winter | |||||||||
| 90 Measurements | 83 Measurements | 93 Measurements | 87 Measurements | 72 Measurements | 72 Measurements | 70 Measurements | 68 Measurements | |||||||||
| Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | |
| Mean ferritin (ug/L) | 162.1 | 4.7 | 157.7 | 4.8 | 93.5 | 4.7 | 90.8 | 5.5 | 153.2 | 5.4 | 139.7 | 5.5 | 106.3 | 5.4 | 106.7 | 5.5 |
| Iron deficient ** | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 2.2% | 5 | 5.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 4 | 5.9% | 1 | 1.6% |
| Iron overload ** | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 1.1% | 1 | 1.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 3.2% |
| Mean sTfR (mg/L) | 4.79 | 0.22 | 4.69 | 0.23 | 4.95 | 0.22 | 5.22 | 0.26 | 4.77 | 0.25 | 4.78 | 0.26 | 4.95 | 0.26 | 4.81 | 0.26 |
| Mean iron stores (mg/kg) | 11.31 | 0.24 | 11.25 | 0.25 | 8.78 | 0.24 | 8.62 | 0.29 | 11.07 | 0.28 | 10.68 | 0.28 | 9.28 | 0.28 | 9.53 | 0.29 |
| Mean RBP (umol/L) | 2.35 | 0.06 | 2.13 | 0.06 | 1.65 | 0.06 | 1.59 | 0.07 | 2.24 | 0.07 | 1.93 | 0.07 | 1.79 | 0.07 | 1.50 | 0.07 |
| Vitamin A deficient ** | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 1.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 1.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Mean CRP (mg/L) | 3.60 | 0.51 | 1.62 | 0.55 | 1.92 | 0.51 | 1.52 | 0.62 | 3.71 | 0.59 | 1.79 | 0.60 | 2.80 | 0.59 | 2.64 | 0.62 |
| Elevated (>5) | 14 | 15.6% | 4 | 5.1% | 8 | 8.7% | 6 | 7.1% | 12 | 17.4% | 6 | 9.2% | 8 | 11.8% | 7 | 11.3% |
| Mean AGP (g/L) | 0.67 | 0.03 | 0.61 | 0.03 | 0.57 | 0.03 | 0.56 | 0.03 | 0.72 | 0.03 | 0.65 | 0.03 | 0.69 | 0.03 | 0.59 | 0.03 |
| Elevated (>1) | 9 | 10.0% | 3 | 3.8% | 3 | 3.3% | 1 | 1.2% | 10 | 14.5% | 6 | 9.2% | 10 | 14.7% | 1 | 1.6% |
| Ulaanbaatar | Tuv | Bulgan | Khuvsgul | Khovd | Omnogobi | Sukhbaatar | Dornod | |||||||||
| 77 Measurements | 80 Measurements | 81 Measurements | 78 Measurements | 77 Measurements | 86 Measurements | 79 Measurements | 77 Measurements | |||||||||
| Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | Mean or n | SE or % | |
| Mean BMI (kg/m^3) | 24.6 | 0.6 | 25.7 | 0.6 | 27.8 | 0.6 | 25.8 | 0.6 | 25.2 | 0.6 | 25.0 | 0.6 | 26.3 | 0.6 | 25.6 | 0.6 |
| Underweight (<18.5) | 1 | 2.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 4.3% | 1 | 2.5% | 1 | 2.5% |
| Normal (18.5–25) | 22 | 55.0% | 19 | 47.5% | 9 | 19.1% | 15 | 37.5% | 18 | 43.9% | 26 | 56.5% | 14 | 35.0% | 18 | 45.0% |
| Overweight (25–30) | 16 | 40.0% | 16 | 40.0% | 26 | 55.3% | 19 | 47.5% | 21 | 51.2% | 13 | 28.3% | 20 | 50.0% | 18 | 45.0% |
| Obese (30+) | 1 | 2.5% | 5 | 12.5% | 12 | 25.5% | 6 | 15.0% | 2 | 4.9% | 5 | 10.9% | 5 | 12.5% | 3 | 7.5% |
| Mean ferritin (ug/L) | 125.7 | 8.0 | 130.4 | 8.0 | 127.2 | 7.5 | 107.8 | 8.0 | 108.1 | 8.0 | 139.2 | 7.8 | 137.5 | 8.0 | 133.1 | 8.0 |
| Iron deficient ** | 1 | 2.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 2.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 2 | 4.9% | 3 | 6.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Iron overload ** | 1 | 2.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 2.2% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Mean sTfR (mg/L) | 4.96 | 0.32 | 4.98 | 0.32 | 4.89 | 0.30 | 5.37 | 0.32 | 4.69 | 0.32 | 4.92 | 0.31 | 4.72 | 0.32 | 4.49 | 0.32 |
| Mean iron stores (mg/kg) | 9.89 | 0.39 | 10.05 | 0.39 | 10.02 | 0.36 | 9.21 | 0.39 | 9.40 | 0.39 | 10.69 | 0.38 | 10.45 | 0.38 | 10.67 | 0.39 |
| Mean RBP (umol/L) | 1.82 | 0.09 | 2.04 | 0.08 | 2.08 | 0.08 | 1.83 | 0.09 | 1.86 | 0.08 | 1.86 | 0.08 | 1.98 | 0.08 | 1.77 | 0.08 |
| Vitamin A deficient ** | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 2.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 1 | 2.4% | 3 | 6.5% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% |
| Mean CRP (mg/L) | 1.63 | 0.60 | 2.62 | 0.58 | 2.49 | 0.57 | 2.49 | 0.59 | 2.29 | 0.59 | 2.55 | 0.59 | 2.33 | 0.57 | 3.02 | 0.58 |
| Elevated (>5) | 1 | 2.5% | 6 | 15.0% | 4 | 8.5% | 5 | 12.5% | 4 | 9.8% | 4 | 8.7% | 3 | 7.5% | 5 | 12.5% |
| Mean AGP (g/L) | 0.53 | 0.03 | 0.68 | 0.03 | 0.63 | 0.03 | 0.66 | 0.03 | 0.65 | 0.03 | 0.59 | 0.03 | 0.72 | 0.03 | 0.59 | 0.03 |
| Elevated (>1) | 1 | 2.5% | 5 | 12.5% | 3 | 6.4% | 4 | 10.0% | 2 | 4.9% | 0 | 0.0% | 5 | 12.5% | 0 | 0.0% |
Within provinces, means are calculated by first averaging each person’s summer and winter measurements then averaging these within-person annual means across persons in each province; provincial frequencies are based on within-person annual means. Significant differences in means (p < 0.05) based on least squares analysis are indicated for the following planned comparisons: summer vs. winter within urbanicity-sex (indicated in blue), males vs. females within urbanicity (BMI) or urbanicity-season (serum biomarkers) (green), urban vs. rural within sex (BMI only) or sex-season (bold), and each province vs. the mean of all other provinces (purple) (combinations of colors and/or bolding indicate multiple significant comparisons). * Seasonal means and differences in BMI are not assessed because height and weight were collected only in winter for the majority of participants. ** Iron and vitamin A deficiency are defined according to serum ferritin and RBP concentration cutoffs, respectively, which are differentially adjusted for inflammatory phase (normal, incubation, early convalescence, late convalescence) defined according to different combinations of elevated CRP and AGP (>5 mg/L and >1 g/L, respectively) [21]. Iron overload is defined as serum ferritin >300 ng/mL in men and >200 ng/mL in women without the presence of inflammation [22]. BMI: body mass index; sTfR: soluble transferrin receptor; RBP: retinol binding protein; CRP: C-reactive protein; AGP: alpha 1-acid glycoprotein.