Body Iron Stores and Dietary Iron Intake in Relation to Diabetes in Adults in North China
Response to Shi and Pan
- De Chun Luan, MD, MPH,
- Hui Li, MD,
- Sui Jing Li, MD,
- Zhuo Zhao, MD,
- Xin Li, MD and
- Zhong Mei Liu, MD
- From the Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Liaoning Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Shenyang, China
- Address correspondence to Sui Jing Li, MD, Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety, Liaoning Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 42-1 Ji Xian St., Shenyang 110005, China. E-mail: lisuijing88{at}sohu.com
In response to the letter of Shi and Pan (1), we appreciate their interest and willingness to comment on our study (2). First, it does not matter whether the lowest quartile (featuring very low levels of heme iron intake) or higher quartiles are chosen as the reference group because odds ratio is a relative value. In addition, the large range of heme iron intake in the Chinese population is …
