A Literature Review of the Relation Between Iron Deficiency Anaemia, Physical Activity and Cognitive Function in Adolescent Girl
Abstract
Women, especially those young and/or pregnant, are at high risk of experiencing an iron deficiency. Low iron stores in the body can affect cognitive function and physical activity in adolescents, but the results of epidemiological studies about the effect of iron deficiency on cognitive function decline and physical activity in adolescents are not consistent. Therefore, it is necessary to review the literature on the relationship between iron deficiency, cognitive function and physical activity in women and girls. This study is an article review using sources from Google Scholar, PubMed and ProQuest database searches from 2014 to 2021. The keywords used are iron deficiency OR anaemia AND adolescent girls OR young women AND activity AND cognitive. By using review criteria, sources were limited to those in English that used a sample of adolescents or young women. In the initial search stage, 63 reviews were obtained and based on the predetermined criteria, 12 reviews were selected to be analysed. Eleven studies examined the relationship between iron deficiency and cognitive decline, there was one study that showed a non-significant relationship between the two; ten studies showed a significant effect of iron deficiency on cognitive decline in the domains of attention tasks, memory tasks and executive function. Three studies showed their effect on decline in adolescents by using different measuring tools. Lack of iron in the body caused a decrease in cognitive function, especially in the domain attention tasks, memory task domains and executive functions domains. In addition, iron deficiency can cause a decrease in physical activity in adolescents due to the low supply of oxygen to the blood and tissues. Therefore, it is necessary to research nutrition intervention programs to improve iron anaemia status in adolescent girls and prevent a decline in cognitive function and physical activity as a result of the impact of iron deficiency.
References
Abalkhail B, Shawky S. Prevalence of daily breakfast intake, iron deficiency anaemia and awareness of being anaemic among Saudi school students. Int J Food Sci Nutr 2002;53(6):519–28.
Alzaheb RA, Al-Amer O. The prevalence of iron deficiency anemia and its associated risk factors among a sample of female university students in Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. Clin Med Insights Womens Health 2017 Dec 1;10:1179562X17745088. doi: 10.1177/1179562X17745088.
World Health Organization. Guideline: Intermittent iron and folic acid supplementation in menstruating women. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2011.
Laporan Nasional Riskesdas. Laporan_Nasional_RKD2018_FINAL.pdf [Internet]. Badan Penelitian dan Pengembangan Kesehatan. 2018. p. 198. Available at: http://labdata.litbang.kemkes.go.id/images/download/laporan/RKD/2018/Laporan_Nasional_RKD2018_FINAL.pdf. Indonesian.
Garcia-Casal MN, Pasricha SR, Sharma AJ, Peña-Rosas JP. Use and interpretation of hemoglobin concentrations for assessing anemia status in individuals and populations: results from a WHO technical meeting. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2019 Aug;1450(1):5-14.
Dziembowska I, Kwapisz J, Izdebski P, Żekanowska E. Mild iron deficiency may affect female endurance and behavior. Physiol Behav 2019 Jun 1;205:44-50.
7. Akseer N, Al-Gashm S, Mehta S, et al. Global and regional trends in the nutritional status of young people: a critical and neglected age group. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2017;1393(1):3–20.
Bhutta ZA, Lassi ZS, Bergeron G, Koletzko B, Salam R, Diaz A, et al. Delivering an action agenda for nutrition interventions addressing adolescent girls and young women: priorities for implementation and research. Ann N Y Acad Sci 2017;1393(1):61–71.
Munira L, Viwattanakulvanid P. Influencing factors and knowledge gaps on anemia prevention among female students in indonesia. Int J Eval Res Educ 2021;10(1):215–21.
Sharma R, Stanek JR, Koch TL, Grooms L, O'Brien SH. Intravenous iron therapy in non-anemic iron-deficient menstruating adolescent females with fatigue. Am J Hematol 2016 Oct;91(10):973-7.
González HF, Malpeli A, Etchegoyen G, Lucero L, Romero F, Lagunas C, et al. Acquisition of visuomotor abilities and intellectual quotient in children aged 4-10 years: Relationship with micronutrient nutritional status. Biol Trace Elem Res 2007;120(1–3):92–101.
Jáuregui-Lobera I. Iron deficiency and cognitive functions. Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat 2014 Nov 10;10:2087-95.
Green MW, Elliman NA. Are dieting-related cognitive impairments a function of iron status? Br J Nutr 2013;109(1):184–92.
Khan A, Chawla RK, Guo M, Wang C. Risk factors associated with anaemia among adolescent girls: a cross sectional study in District Peshawar, Pakistan. J Pak Med Assoc 2019 Nov;69(11):1591-5.
Murray-Kolb LE, Wenger MJ, Scott SP, Rhoten SE, Lung'aho MG, Haas JD. Consumption of iron-biofortified beans positively affects cognitive performance in 18-to 27-Year-Old Rwandan female college students in an 18-week randomized controlled efficacy trial. J Nutr 2017;147(11):2109–17.
Blanton C. Improvements in iron status and cognitive function in young women consuming beef or non-beef lunches. Nutrients 2013;6(1):90–110.
Cook RL, O'Dwyer NJ, Parker HM, Donges CE, Cheng HL, Steinbeck KS, et al. Iron deficiency anemia, not iron deficiency, is associated with reduced attention in healthy young women. Nutrients 2017 Nov 5;9(11):1216. doi: 10.3390/nu9111216.
Scott SP, Murray-Kolb LE. Iron status is associated with performance on executive functioning tasks in nonanemic young women. J Nutr 2016;146(1):30–7.
Pompano LM, Luna SV, Udipi SA, Ghugre PS, Przybyszewski EM, Haas J. Iron-biofortified pearl millet consumption increases physical activity in Indian adolescent schoolchildren after a 6-month randomised feeding trial. Br J Nutr 2022 Apr 14;127(7):1018-25.
Leonard AJ, Chalmers KA, Collins CE, Patterson AJ. A study of the effects of latent iron deficiency on measures of cognition: A pilot randomised controlled trial of iron supplementation in young women. Nutrients 2014;6(6):2419–35.
Scott SP, Murray-Kolb LE, Wenger MJ, Udipi SA, Ghugre PS, Boy E, et al. Cognitive performance in Indian school-going adolescents is positively affected by consumption of iron-biofortified pearl millet: A 6-month randomized controlled efficacy trial. J Nutr 2018;148(9):1462–71.
Mousa SO. Cognitive function and school achievement in adolescent Egyptian girls with iron deficiency and iron deficiency anaemia. Ment Health Fam Med 2016;12:289–94.
Ji X, Cui N, Liu J. Neurocognitive function is associated with serum iron status in early adolescents. Biol Res Nurs 2017;19(3):269–77.
Sharief SM, Shaik AP, Parveen SA, Hussain SM. Correlation of iron deficiency anemia with cognitive function in young adults. IOSR-JDMS 2019;18(5)11:47-54.
Mc Cance KL, Huether SE. Patophysilology: the biologic basic disease in adult and childrfen. Maryland (Mi): Mosby, 2003; p. 933.
Aspuru K, Villa C, Bermejo F, Herrero P, López SG. Optimal management of iron deficiency anemia due to poor dietary intake. Int J Gen Med 2011;4:741-50.
Sungthong R, Mo-suwan L, Chongsuvivatwong V, Geater AF. Once-weekly and 5-days a week iron supplementation differentially affect cognitive function but not school performance in Thai children. J Nutr 2004 Sep;134(9):2349-54.
Georgieff MK. The role of iron in neurodevelopment: Fetal iron deficiency and the developing hippocampus. Biochem Soc Trans 2008;36(6):1267–71.
Lozoff B. Early iron deficiency has brain and behavior effects consistent with dopaminergic dysfunction. J Nutr 2011 Apr 1;141(4):740S-746S.
Fretham SJB, Carlson ES, Georgieff MK. The role of iron in learning and memory. Adv Nutr 2011;2(2):112–21.
Prickett C, Brennan L, Stolwyk R. Examining the relationship between obesity and cognitive function: a systematic literature review. Obes Res Clin Pract 2015 Mar-Apr;9(2):93-113.
Sugarman R [Internet]. IntegneuroTM User Manual Version 3. [Cited: 1-Oct-2023]. Available at: https://brainclinics.com/wp-content/uploads/integneuro_manual.pdf.
Hidalgo C, Núñez MT. Calcium, iron and neuronal function. IUBMB Life 2007;59(4–5):280–5.
Cutler DM, Lleras-Muney A. Education and health: insights from international comparisons. NBER 2012 [Internet]. [Cited: 1-Oct-2023]. Available at: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w17738/w17738.pdf.
Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research. The role of protein and amino acids in sustaining and enhancing performance. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US), 1999.
More S, Shivkumar VB, Gangane N, Shende S. Effects of iron deficiency on cognitive function in school going adolescent females in rural area of central India. Anemia 2013;2013:819136. doi: 10.1155/2013/819136.
Soppi ET. Iron deficiency without anemia - a clinical challenge. Clin Case Rep 2018 Apr 17;6(6):1082-6.
Crouter SE, Dellavalle DM, Haas JD. Relationship between physical activity, physical performance, and iron status in adult women. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2012;37(4):697–705.
Oniszczenko W, Dragan WL. Association between temperament in terms of the Regulative Theory of Temperament and DRD4 and DAT1 gene polymorphisms. Compr Psychiatry 2012;53(6):789–96.
Siddharam SM, Venketesh GM, Thejeshwari HL. A study of anemia among adolescent girls in rural area of Hassan district, Karnataka, South India. Int J Biol Med Res 2011;2(4):922–4.
Kassebaum NJ, Jasrasaria R, Naghavi M, Wulf SK, Johns N, Lozano R, et al. A systematic analysis of global anemia burden from 1990 to 2010. Blood 2014 Jan 30;123(5):615-24.
Dragan W, Oniszczenko W. Polymorphisms in the serotonin transporter gene and their relationship to two temperamental traits measured by the formal characteristics of behavior-temperament inventory: Activity and emotional reactivity. Neuropsychobiology 2005;51(4):269–74.
Leźnicka K, Starkowska A, Tomczak M, Cięszczyk P, Białecka M, Ligocka M, et al. Temperament as a modulating factor of pain sensitivity in combat sport athletes. Physiol Behav 2017 Oct 15;180:131-6.
Claghorn GC, Fonseca IAT, Thompson Z, Barber C, Garland T Jr. Serotonin-mediated central fatigue underlies increased endurance capacity in mice from lines selectively bred for high voluntary wheel running. Physiol Behav 2016 Jul 1;161:145-54.
Chakravarthy S, Balasubramani PP, Mandali A, Jahanshahi M, Moustafa AA. The many facets of dopamine: Toward an integrative theory of the role of dopamine in managing the body's energy resources. Physiol Behav 2018 Oct 15;195:128-41.
Köhncke Y, Papenberg G, Jonasson L, Karalija N, Wåhlin A, Salami A, et al. Self-rated intensity of habitual physical activities is positively associated with dopamine D2/3 receptor availability and cognition. Neuroimage 2018 Nov 1;181:605-16.
Houston BL, Hurrie D, Graham J, Perija B, Rimmer E, Rabbani R, et al. Efficacy of iron supplementation on fatigue and physical capacity in non-anaemic iron-deficient adults: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open 2018 Apr 5;8(4):e019240. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-019240.
Wati IDP. Are hemoglobin and volume oxygen maximum (vo2max) relevant each other? J Sport Area 2021;6(2):193–200.
Sabrima EJ, Sanjaya R, Surmiasih YDS. Correlation between hemoglobin level and functional capacity in young adult population. Biomed J Indones 2020;6(3):357–63.
- Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).