Iron deficiency and physical activity in female Indian tea pluckers

The objective of this study was to determine whether iron deficiency has a negative impact on physical activity (PA) in female Indian tea pluckers. Non‐pregnant women (18 to 55 y) working at a tea estate in Darjeeling District, West Bengal, India were identified as iron depleted anemic (IDA, n=38), iron depleted non‐anemic (IDNA, n=39), anemic non‐iron depleted (ANID, n=51), or normal (NAND, n=78). Anemia was defined as Hb<120 g/L and iron depletion (ID) was defined by serum ferritin (SF) <20 μg/L. Soluble transferrin receptor (TfR) combined with SF was used to calculate body iron (mg/kg) by the method of Cook et al (Blood, 2003; 101:3359–64). Each woman wore an Actigraph accelerometer for 5 consecutive weekdays to assess PA. Accelerometer counts were used to predict energy expenditure (METs) using the refined Crouter 2‐regression model (MSSE, 2010;42;1029–37). The hypotheses tested are: 1. Women with compromised iron status will spend less time in strenuous activities and more time in sedentary activity during the day than iron‐replete women, and 2. The greatest differences in PA between iron‐deplete and iron‐replete subjects will be found during the non‐work periods of the day when time use is more discretionary. The results will be discussed in the context of the effects of iron deficiency on quality of life in this population. Supported by The Mathile Institute and The Micronutrient Initiative.