Fitness, iron levels may boost grades in girls

The findings showed that female students with good fitness and iron levels achieved higher grade point averages than unfit women who were deficient in iron stores. “Low iron stores and low aerobic fitness may prevent female college students from achieving their full academic potential,” said Karsten Koehler, assistant professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the US. 

Iron helps the body with essential functions such as transporting oxygen in the blood, whereas a deficiency is associated with fatigue, lower work capacity and poor academic performance. 

Physical fitness is also known to influence overall health, cognition and learning. For the study, the team analysed 105 women with an average Grade point average (GPA) of 3.68 to explore the lesser known combined effects of fitness and iron deficiency on grade point average.

In analyses of combined effects of iron status and fitness, GPA was found higher in women with normal ferritin, blood cell protein that contains iron and higher fitness than in those with low ferritin and lower fitness and low ferritin and higher fitness. 

The study was published in The Journal of Nutrition.