Iron Deficiency in athletes

Throughout my life I've been involved in athletics, specifically soccer and track, and it seemed like I was managing two sports well.  However, during my freshman year in high school, I began to quickly fatigue and feel lightheaded in workouts. I didn't suspect anything since up till then I had managed a multi-sport workload. However, my coach started to notice my fatigue and he suggested that I get a serum ferritin test, which measures "stored iron" to see if I was iron deficient.  The results were eye opening and put me on a path to improved health and athletic performance.

 

After discovering that my serum ferritin was extremely low, at the advice of a doctor I began taking iron supplements and adding more iron rich foods into my diet.  In about a month I began to feel much better and my times improved tremendously, over two minutes in the 5k.  In talking with teammates, most were not familiar with iron deficiency, even though it is a VERY common problem among athletes, especially females.  There is also confusion about the types of tests that are best for detecting iron deficiency, and there's even some debate about what the levels mean, especially since athletes have greater iron needs.    

 

Fast forward several years....  I'm now a rising senior in high school, and a Girl Scout, and for my Gold Award project I decided to focus on iron deficiency in athletes with the goal of improving awareness and knowledge about this issue.  My project advisor (Dr. Stephanie Hightower) is a doctor and an athlete, and with her guidance, I developed educational content that I hope simplifies a complex topic, including what it is, why it's so prevalent among athletes, and how to detect and treat it.  My goal is to build awareness among athletes, coaches, and parents about something that many athletes experience, but most don't understand.  The first step to better health is understanding.

 

Thanks for taking the time to check out the infographic and video that I developed.  If you find them valuable, please spread the word and share my website URL energetichealthyathlete.com with others.  

 

Sarah Bland