American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 18, 286-293, Copyright © 1966 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Red Cell Values in Healthy Adolescents

¹ From the Hematology Research Laboratory, Children's Hospital, San Francisco, California

A group of 129 healthy subjects, twelve to seventeen years of age, registered in a Youth Clinic, were studied.

A gradual rise of red cell values beginning with puberty and continuing throughout adolescence was found in boys but not in girls. The hemoglobin did not reach adult levels by the age of seventeen years. Mean hemoglobin levels were higher in white than in Negro subjects. The average level of mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular hemoglobin increased with age in both sexes.

Serum iron increased with age in boys but not in girls. Several unusually high serum iron concentrations were observed. Mean levels of serum iron and total iron-binding capacity were higher in adolescents than in adults. Iron deficiency was an infrequent cause of slightly low hemoglobin values.

The bone marrow in fifteen youths with the lowest hemoglobin values for their age and sex was normal; all but two had adequate hemosiderin.