Changes in the concentrations of biochemical indicators of diet and nutritional status of pregnant women across pregnancy trimesters in Trujillo, Peru, 2004–2005

Table 7 Micronutrient deficiencies among pregnant Peruvian women in comparison with pregnant women from 2003–04 NHANES ^1-2

Biochemical indicators	Deficient cut-off concentration	Peruvian pregnant women									NHANES pregnant women
		Trimester ¹			Trimester ²			Trimester ³			NHANES pregnant women
		Deficient	Total	%³	Deficient	Total	%	Deficient	Total	%	Deficient	Total	%
Ferritin	≤ 15 ng/mL⁴ (33.7 pmol/L)	5	78	6.4	27	61	44.3	38	53	71.7	92	250	36.8
Selenium	≤ 70 ng/mL (0.90 μmol/L)⁵	0	78	0.0	0	64	0.0	1	62	1.6	0	2	0.0
Transferrin saturation	≤ 16%⁴	10	78	12.8	29	63	46.0	31	40	77.5	100	251	39.8

¹Of the 16 maternal biochemical indicators analyzed for this study, only 5 have clinically deficient definitions established: retinol, α-tocopherol, ferritin, selenium, and transferrin saturation. Since none of the Peruvian women were clinically deficient in retinol and α-tocopherol, these values are omitted.
²Micronutrient deficiency definitions do not necessarily pertain to newborns; therefore, cord serum was not included.
³% = deficient women/total women × 100.
⁴(23).
⁵(24).

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