Iron deficiency remains one of India’s most persistent nutritional challenges, reducing work capacity, impairing child development, and burdening public health systems.
About Iron as Nutrition
- Iron is a vital micronutrient essential for oxygen transport, energy metabolism, and normal growth.
About Iron
- Iron is a vital chemical element (Ferrum ) and the most abundant metal on Earth by mass, essential for industrial development and biological survival.
- Properties: Iron is a strong, malleable, and magnetic metal with good electrical conductivity and multiple oxidation states, making it highly versatile in chemical reactions.
Uses
- Industrial Uses: Iron is the backbone of modern industry, used in steel production for construction, transportation, machinery, and infrastructure development.
- Biological Uses: In living organisms, iron is a key component of haemoglobin and enzymes, enabling oxygen transport, energy metabolism, and cellular growth.
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- It forms a core component of haemoglobin and supports multiple cellular functions necessary for human survival.
- A normal adult male has 50 mg/kg of iron, while females have 40 mg/kg.
- Role of Iron in the Human Body
- Oxygen Transport: Iron is a key constituent of haemoglobin, enabling red blood cells to carry oxygen from lungs to tissues.
- Energy Metabolism: It supports enzymes involved in cellular respiration and energy production.
- Growth and Immunity: Adequate iron is required for cellular proliferation, brain development, and immune competence.
Excess Iron in the Human Body and Its Impact
- Limited Iron Excretion: The human body lacks an active mechanism to eliminate excess iron, leading to accumulation when intake or blood transfusions are excessive.
- Organ Deposition and Damage: Excess iron accumulates in the liver, heart, and endocrine glands, causing cirrhosis, cardiomyopathy, and hormonal dysfunction.
- Causes of Iron Overload: Repeated blood transfusions and genetic haemochromatosis are major causes of iron overload.
- Chelation Therapy: Chelation therapy uses agents that bind excess iron, forming stable complexes excreted mainly through urine, preventing irreversible tissue damage.
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Minimum Requirement (as per WHO)
- Adult men: ~8–10 mg/day
- Adult women (non-pregnant): ~18–20 mg/day (higher due to menstrual losses)
- Pregnant women: ~27 mg/day to support fetal growth and increased blood volume.
Causes of Iron Deficiency
- Nutritional: Inadequate intake of iron in the diet (in rare cases failure to absorb oral iron).
Blood loss: In females with heavy periods during menstrual cycle , iron can be depleted.-
- Gastrointestinal blood loss in elders can also cause iron deficiency.
- Older patients must be evaluated for malignancy of the stomach or colon.
Impact of Iron Deficiency
- Anaemia and Fatigue: Anemia is a condition where the blood has a lower-than-normal amount of healthy haemoglobin.
- Reduced haemoglobin leads to weakness, breathlessness, and reduced physical productivity.
- Child Development: Chronic deficiency causes stunted growth, impaired cognitive development, and poor academic performance.
- Economic and Social Impact: At the population level, iron deficiency significantly lowers workforce efficiency and economic output.
Sources of Iron
- Dietary Sources
- Heme iron (better absorbed): Meat, fish, poultry.
- Non-heme iron: Millets, unpolished rice, pulses, green leafy vegetables, milk and curd (absorption enhanced with vitamin C).
- Less Absorption: Only a small fraction of dietary iron (around 10%) is absorbed, making adequate intake crucial.
- Supplements
- Oral iron: First-line therapy; inexpensive and effective when taken for at least three months.
- Intravenous iron: Used when oral iron is not tolerated or absorption is poor.
Government Interventions to Address Iron Deficiency
- Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB): Targets reduction of anaemia through prophylactic iron–folic acid supplementation, behaviour change communication, and testing-based treatment.
- It has a target of annual reduction of 3 percentage points in children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age (15-49 years).
- POSHAN Abhiyaan: Aims to improve nutritional outcomes for children, pregnant women, and lactating mothers through convergence, monitoring, and community engagement.
- National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI): Provides age-specific iron and folic acid supplementation to children, adolescents, and women of reproductive age.
Conclusion
Iron deficiency is both a medical and developmental challenge. Addressing it requires dietary diversification, effective supplementation, and strengthened public health delivery systems.
16 Jan 2026
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