Serum ferritin and nutritional status: insights from an eating disorders clinic population

Objective To determine the relationship between serum ferritinand malnutrition in newly assessed patients at a paediatric eating disordersclinic. Design This was a prospectively assessed clinical cohort study. Setting Intake assessment clinic of a tertiary eating disordersservice for children and adolescents. Methods Clinical, anthropometric and laboratory features of children and adolescents were systematically measured. The relationship of serum ferritinto other clinical, anthropometric and laboratory measures was determined using linear regression. Results A total of 121 female patients aged 9.5–17.6 years were included, with body mass index (BMI) z score −5.7 to 1.9 (median −1.3). Using multiple regression, serum ferritinwas inversely associated with BMI z score (regression coefficient (β)=−0.234, 95% CI −0.413 to −0.055) and serum insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) (β=−0.476, 95% CI −0.884 to −0.068) and positively associated with alanine aminotransferase (β=0.357, 95% CI 0.055 to 0.659, controlling for age, pubertal stage and serum iron). Conclusions In malnourished adolescents with eating disordersincreased serum ferritinis associated with lower BMI z score and serum IGF-1.