Global, regional and national burden of dietary iron deficiency from 1990 to 2021: a Global Burden of Disease study

Sooji Lee, Yejun Son, Jiyoung Hwang, Min Seo Kim, GBD 2021 Dietary Iron Deficiency Collaborators, Jae Il Shin, Dong Keon Yon, Nicholas J. Kassebaum, Levi Osuagwu, Kritika Rana, Rasmieh Al-Amer, et al.

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Although iron deficiency is well documented, less is known about dietary involvement in symptomatic iron deficiency manifesting in medical conditions. In this study, we quantified the global burden of dietary iron deficiency, focusing on where inadequate dietary iron intake leads to clinical manifestations such as anemia. We analyzed data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 to estimate dietary iron deficiency prevalence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), stratified by age, sex, geography and socio-demographic index (SDI) across 204 countries. In 2021, global age-standardized prevalence and DALY rates were 16,434.4 (95% uncertainty interval (UI), 16,186.2–16,689.0) and 423.7 (285.3–610.8) per 100,000 population, with rates decreasing by 9.8% (8.1–11.3) and 18.2% (15.4–21.1) from 1990 to 2021. A higher burden was observed in female individual (age-standardized prevalence, 21,334.8 (95% UI, 20,984.8–21,697.4); DALYs, 598.0 (402.6–854.4)) than in male individual ((age-standardized prevalence, 11,684.7 (11,374.6–12,008.8); DALYs, 253.0 (167.3–371.0)). High-SDI countries presented greater improvement, with a 25.7% reduction compared to 11.5% in low-SDI countries. Despite global improvements, dietary iron deficiency remains a major health concern with a global prevalence of 16.7%, particularly affecting female individuals, children and residents in low-SDI countries. Urgent interventions through supplementation, food security measures and fortification initiatives are essential.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1809–1829
Number of pages21
JournalNature Medicine
Volume31
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2025

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© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature America, Inc. 2025.

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