Riboflavin requirement of Filipino women.

The level of riboflavin intake that will correct riboflavin deficiency in seven non-pregnant and in twelve pregnant Filipino women was determined in order to reassess the adequacy of the current Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for riboflavin in Filipinos. Increasing levels of riboflavin were given to the subjects who were rated as riboflavin-deficient based on an initial erythrocyte glutathione reductase activation coefficient (EGR-AC) of greater than or equal to 1.3 in screening. The minimum riboflavin requirement, defined as the intake of riboflavin required to achieve an EGR-AC of less than 1.3, was estimated from the regression of EGR-AC on riboflavin intake (mg/1000 kcal). The estimates of minimum riboflavin requirement from the non-pregnant women ranged from 0.16 to 0.42 with a mean of 0.35 +/- 0.09 (SD) mg/1000 kcal. For the pregnant subjects, the estimates of minimum riboflavin requirement ranged from 0.36 to 0.81 with a mean of 0.58 +/- 0.18 (SD) mg/1000 kcal. Adding 30% to the mean, to cover the upper limits of 97.5% of the population, the estimated RDA for non-pregnant women is 0.46/1000 kcal. This value is approximately equal to the 1976 Philippine RDA of 0.5 mg riboflavin/1000 kcal. For pregnant women, adding 30% to the mean minimum requirement of 0.58 mg/1000 kcal, the estimated RDA is 0.75 mg/1000 kcal or 1.75 mg/day computed at the energy allowance of 2350 kcal during pregnancy. This value is 25% higher than the current Philippine RDA of 1.4 mg/day for pregnant women.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Assessment of the iron status of Filipino adolescents.

The iron nutritional status of 1,153 Filipino adolescents from low, medium and high socio-economic groups was assessed by determination of hemoglobin, FEP, serum ferritin and transferrin saturation. Prevalence rates of iron deficiency based on FEP and serum ferritin were higher for females than for males. Iron deficiency was more prevalent among adolescents from low socio-economic families. The high prevalence of iron deficiency (24.4%) based on FEP among females from the low socio-economic group may be due to inadequate iron intake and low availability of dietary iron since 79.7% came from vegetable sources. Compared to FEP and transferrin saturation, serum ferritin determination appeared to be more sensitive as an indicator of iron status.

Hemoglobin levels in normal Filipino pregnant women.

The hemoglobin concentrations during pregnancy in Filipinos belonging to the upper income group, who were prescribed 105 mg elemental iron daily, and who had acceptable levels of transferrin saturation, were examined in an attempt to define normal levels. The hemoglobin concentrations for each trimester followed a Gaussian distribution. The hemoglobin values equal to the mean minus one standard deviation were 11.4 gm/dl for the first trimester and 10.4 gm/dl for the second and third trimesters. Using these values as the lower limits of normal, in one group of pregnant women the prevalence of anemia during the last two trimesters was found lower than that obtained when WHO levels for normal were used. Groups of women with hemoglobin of 10.4 to 10.9 gm/dl (classified anemic by WHO criteria but normal in the present study) and those with 11.0 gm/dl and above could not be distinguished on the basis of their serum ferritin levels nor on the degree of decrease in their hemoglobin concentration during pregnancy. Many subjects in both groups, however, had serum ferritin levels less than 12 ng/ml which indicate poor iron stores. It might be desirable in future studies to determine the hemoglobin cut-off point that will delineate subjects who are both non-anemic and adequate in iron stores using serum ferritin levels as criterion for the latter.