Table 1 Baseline characteristic for the 251 participants who completed the baseline tests^a

Age (years)

36.4 (8.2)

37.0 (7.6)

38.5 (7.6)

Gender, female N (%)

58 (69)

61 (72)

63 (77)

 South Asia

31 (37)

31 (36)

33 (40)

 Middle East and North Africa

15 (18)

9 (11)

12 (15)

 Sub-Sahara Africa

38 (45)

45 (53)

37 (45)

Body mass index

27.0 (5.2)

27.5(5.2)

27.8 (5.0)

 Female

27.7 (5.3)

27.7 (5.3)

28.9 (5.0)

 Male

25.0 (4.6)

26.3 (3.0)

24.5 (3,3)

S- 25(OH)D (nmol/L)

26.9 (16.4)

29.7 (20.5)

30.0 (19.0)

 Female

26.6 (17.3)

30.8 (22.3)

30.6 (19.8)

 Male

27.5 (14.6)

26.9 (15.2)

28.6 (16.2)

Hemoglobin (g/dL)^b

13.6 (1.6)

13.7 (1.6)

13.6 (1.4)

 Female

12.8 (1.2)

13.1 (1.4)

13.0 (0.9)

 Male

15.2 (0.9)

15.1 (1.2)

15.5 (0.8)

Serum iron (μg/L)^c

14.4 (6.6)

14.3 (5.7)

13.1 (5.7)

 Female

12.5 (5.5)

13.6 (5.8)

12.0 (5.4)

 Male

18.6 (6.8)

15.8 (5.3)

16.9 (4.9)

Serum ferritin (μg/L)^c mean (SD)

58.9 (62.8)

81.6 (88.8)

56.3 (63.2)

 Female

33.1 (38.8)

46.4 (40.5)

34.1 (41.6)

 Male

116.7 (68.2)

171.4 (113.3)

129.6 (68.2)

 Female

22 (9.5–46.8)

36 (21–59)

24 (10–34.0)

 Male

104 (61–168)

145 (102–219)

110 (82–153)

Transferrin saturation (%)^d

20.8 (10.4)

21.5 (9.3)

18.4 (8.4)

 Female

17.6 (8.8))

20.7 (10.0)

16.5 (7.8)

 Male

27.7 (10.3)

23.4 (7.4)

24.9 (6.4)

S-Total iron binding bapacity (μmol/L)^c

72.1 (11.8)

68.6 (10.9)

72.9 (10.8)

 Female

74.0 (12.3)

68.9 (11.3)

74.3 (10.9)

 Male

67.6 (9.3)

67.5 (9.9)

68.3 (9.4)

S-Folic acid (nmol/L)^c

14.8 (6.2)

15.9 (6.6)

15.8 (5.8)

 Female

15.5 (6.6)

15.3 (6.0)

15.9 (6.0)

 Male

13.4 (5.3)

17.8 (7.9)

15.6 (4.7)

S-Vitamin B12 (pmol/L)^c

321.6 (92.7)

343.9 (116.8)

339.9 (105.5)

 Female

334.1 (93.8)

359.2 (119.8)

334.1 (110.9)

 Male

293.8 (85.9)

300.7 (98.6)

361.4 (82.1)

 Female

7.3 (3.1)

7.5 (3.8)

8.5 (4.3)

 Male

8.0 (3.6)

6.8 (2.4)

6.3 (2.6)

 All

4.9 (6.5)

4.0 (5.5)

4.2 (7.7)

 All (median, IQR)

1.8 (0.8–6.7)

1.8 (0.9–4.0)

2.0 (0.8–4.0)