Functional Consequences of Iron Supplementation in Iron-deficient Female Cotton Mill Workers in Beijing, China

Eighty iron-deficient, nonpregnant female workers were randomly assigned to ferrous sulphate (60 or 120 mg Fe/d) or placebo treatment for 12 wk. Energy expenditure was estimated during 3 d by heart rate (HR) recording. Production efficiency (PE) was calculated as the ratio of productivity to energy expenditure. In the iron-treated group mean hemoglobin (Hb) increased from 114 to 127 g/L (P < 0.001), mean serum ferritin increased from 9.7 to 30.0 micrograms/L (P < 0.001), and mean free erythrocyte protoporphyrin decreased from 1.01 to 0.49 mumol/L (P < 0.001). Mean HR at work decreased from 95.5 to 91.1 beats/min (P < 0.001), which was inversely correlated with the change in Hb (r = -0.60, P < 0.001). PE increased significantly in the iron-treated group (P < 0.001) and its change paralleled the change in Hb (r = 0.58, P < 0.001). The results show that iron supplementation enabled these women to do the same work at a lower energy cost.