Review Article

Dietary Iron Intake in Pregnant Women in Europe: A Review of 24 Studies from 14 Countries in the Period 1991–2014

Table 2

Dietary iron intake in pregnant women in 11 European countries arranged according to the magnitude of median or mean iron intake. For comparison, iron intake in nonpregnant women of reproductive age in the same countries is shown as well. Only studies using dietary record methods are included.

CountryMedian or mean dietary iron intake in pregnant women mg/dayReferenceMedian or mean dietary iron intake in nonpregnant women mg/dayReference

Greece15.4a+b[24]
Czech Republic14.0a; 15.3b; 16.3c[18]
Portugal14.4a+b+c[31]
Germany12.2a+b+c[22]12.2[40]
Finland11.4c[20]10.3[41]
Norway11b; 11c; 10b[28]10.0[42]
England10.1a; 8.0a; 11.5a[36, 38, 39]9.5[43]
Croatia9.5a; 10.1b; 11.2c[17]
Poland10.1c[29]10.7[44]
Bosnia8.6[16]7.6[16]
Spain8.3a; 8.5c[32]10.5[45]

Arithmetic mean, a = 1st trimester; b = 2nd trimester; c = 3rd trimester.