Iron-fortified wheat flour and hemoglobin levels in 280 Pakistani women
What it found
Eating iron-fortified wheat flour for 120 days raised average hemoglobin levels in 280 women of childbearing age in Pakistan.
Severe anemia dropped to zero by the end of the study.
What they found
Studies in people
Hemoglobin levels rose
Average hemoglobin went from 10.20 g/dL at the start to 11.85 g/dL after 120 days of eating iron-fortified wheat flour. The authors say this rise was significant.
Severe anemia disappeared
At the start, 16.7% of the women had severe anemia. After 120 days, no women fell into the severe category. Many moved into the moderate anemia group instead.
More women reached normal levels
Before the study, 20.0% of the women had normal hemoglobin. By day 120, that number grew to 32.5%.
Wheat provided most iron
The women ate an average of 343.5g of wheat flour per day. This gave them 28.4mg of iron, which is close to the recommended 30mg per day for Pakistani women of childbearing age.
Other findings
Iron added to flour
The fortified flour contained 3.77mg of extra iron per 100g. Combined with the 4.5mg already in the flour, the total came to 8.27mg per 100g.
What the authors conclude
- They conclude that eating iron-fortified wheat flour raised hemoglobin levels in these women over 120 days.
- They suggest that adding iron to wheat flour could be a cost-effective way to fight iron deficiency among women of childbearing age in Pakistan.
How it was done
About 41.7% of Pakistani women of childbearing age are anemic, and roughly 18.2% lack enough iron. Adding iron to wheat flour is a common way to try to fix this problem because wheat provides about half of all calories eaten in Pakistan.
Researchers followed 280 women aged 15 to 49 in one district of Pakistan for 120 days. The women ate iron-fortified wheat flour as part of their normal diet, and researchers measured their hemoglobin at the start and end. They also asked each woman what she had eaten in the previous 24 hours.
What it can’t tell you
- This study did not use a comparison group eating regular flour, so it cannot prove the fortified flour alone caused the rise in hemoglobin.
- The women were only followed for 120 days, so scientists do not yet know if these higher hemoglobin levels lasted longer.
- All participants lived in one district of Pakistan, so the results might not apply to women in other places.
Who paid
- Authors work at
- Ibadat International University, Pakistan; Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan; Health Services Academy, Pakistan
The paper
- Title
- Effect of Iron-fortified Wheat Flour on Hemoglobin Levels among Women of Reproductive Age Group in Mansehra, KPK, Pakistan
- Type
- Study
- Evidence
- Studies in people
- Summarised from
- Full text
- Cite
- Anis RA, Anees M, Zafar S, et al (2023). Effect of Iron-fortified Wheat Flour on Hemoglobin Levels among Women of Reproductive Age Group in Mansehra, KPK, Pakistan. Cellular and molecular biology (Noisy-le-Grand, France). doi:10.14715/cmb/2023.69.2.5Free full textPubMed 37224051DOI
Summary written 30 Sep 2026. Check it against the paper before it changes what you eat. How we summarise papers · Report an error