One adult in seven is running low on iron, and most take none
In a national sample of 8,021 adults, 14% had ferritin below 30 nanograms per millilitre. Of the women who were deficient, 22 to 35% took any iron at all.
What the study found
One in seven US adults is short of stored iron, and most take nothing
In a national sample of 8,021 adults, 14% had ferritin below 30 nanograms per millilitre and 15% had stores they could not mobilise. Among adults with no anaemia, heart failure, kidney disease or pregnancy, the first figure was still 11%. Of deficient women, 22 to 35% took any iron.
The caveat · One blood test, not how anyone felt
A single blood draw cannot say who felt unwell or who would have benefited from treatment. The headline figure moves with the cutoff chosen, and below 30 is one of several in use. No inflammation adjustment was applied, which by other work would push the estimate higher. The authors say what functional deficiency means in an otherwise well adult is still unresolved.