Children and young people who are overweight or obese are at significantly higher risk of iron deficiency, according to a study by nutritional scientists at the University of Leeds.
Researchers from the School of Food Science and Nutrition examined thousands of medical studies from 44 countries involving people under the age of 25 where levels of iron and other vitamins and minerals had been recorded alongside weight.
They found that iron deficiency was associated with both underweight and overweight children and adolescents.
By contrast, zinc and vitamin A deficiencies were only observed in children who were undernourished, leading researchers to conclude that iron deficiency in overweight children is probably due to inflammation disrupting the mechanisms that regulate iron absorption.
The results of the research which was funded by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences…
