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Iron Status and Family Structure of Teenage Girls in a Low‐Income Area
Author(s) -
Hertzler Ann A.,
Yamanaka William,
Nenninger Carol,
Abernathy Areva
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
home economics research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.372
H-Index - 31
eISSN - 1552-3934
pISSN - 0046-7774
DOI - 10.1177/1077727x7600500204
Subject(s) - iron status , low income , hematocrit , family income , medicine , demography , environmental health , socioeconomic status , gerontology , iron deficiency , anemia , endocrinology , population , socioeconomics , sociology , economic growth , economics
A study of 257 teenage girls in a low‐income area of Missouri included dietary status (Iron Intake and Iron Frequency Scores), nutrition knowledge (Iron Knowledge Score), nutri tional status (hematocrit), and family structure measures. Varying correlations occurred among the indicators of dietary status, knowledge level, and nutritional status. Few of these indicators were directly associated with family structure. Since family structure was con sidered an important variable in understanding food habits, associations between these iron measures were studied by controlling for low and high family structure scores. For girls with low family structure scores, hematocrit was negatively correlated with the two dietary measures of iron; but girls who ranked in the upper portion had hematocrits that had little correlation with the two dietary iron measures. The negative correlation between hematocrit and dietary measures with girls receiving low family structure scores suggests the importance of including nutrition as well as some aspect of group dynamics in educa tion programs.