MORE than one-third of Dublin teenage girls who participated in a major new study on nutrition were found to have low iron levels or were anaemic, a conference in Venice was told yesterday.
Prof Michael J. Gibney, of Trinity college Dublin, an expert on nutrition, said the survey indicated a mad public health problem.
He told the first European Beef Congress, held to promote beef that the survey of 500 Irish teenage girls found a very high resistance to eating meat.
Prof Gibney said the girls aged 14-17 gave varying reasons for not eating meat. Some 68 per cent said they were trying to lose weight, with 60 per cent saying they wanted to be slimmer and did not realise lean beef did not increase weight.
He said 53 per cent said they thought killing animals was cruel and 50 per cent said they did not like the taste of meat. Some 29 per cent thought meat was fattening and 25 per cent believed vegetarian diets were healthier.
Prof Gibney said, in a follow-up survey, blood samples were taken from 211 of the young women and 30 per cent were found to have low levels of iron and 3 per cent were anaemic.
He said the girls surveyed were at a stage when iron was vital for growth and menstrual development. Because low iron at the outset of pregnancy had serious implications for birth weight and because many pregnancies were unplanned, iron deficiency was a major public health problem.
Prof Gibney urged the establishment of an EU iron status advisory panel.
Delegates from throughout Europe are attending the congress which is viewed as the industry's fight-back against falling consumption fuelled by the BSE crisis. It is being run by the EU funded European Quality Beef Association.