image: Median ferritin in women with and without heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB), stratified by diet (omnivore vs meat restricted).
Credit: Söderman et al., 2025, PLOS One, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
The odds of iron deficiency in adolescent girls are almost 14 times higher among those who experience heavy menstruation and follow a meat-restricted diet, compared to girls with normal menstruation who eat an omnivorous diet
Article URL: https://plos.io/4883ZTd
Article title: Exploring the effect of menstrual loss and dietary habits on iron deficiency in teenagers: A cross-sectional study
Author countries: Canada, Sweden.
Funding: Open access funding provided by Karolinska Institutet. This study was funded by the Southern Health Care Region of Sweden, the Lions Research Fund Skåne, and Regional Funding for Clinical Research (USVE), awarded to MW. A grant from the Vetenskapsrådet (2023-06565) funded the participation of LS. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Journal
PLOS One
Article Title
Exploring the effect of menstrual loss and dietary habits on iron deficiency in teenagers: A cross-sectional study
Article Publication Date
3-Dec-2025
COI Statement
Lisa Söderman and Moa Wolff received an honorarium for an educational webinar by Pharmacosmos. This does not alter our adherence to PLOS ONE policies on sharing data and materials.