Imagine if ads with celebrities holding a huge piece of liver with a caption “Got Iron?” started popping up on billboards and in magazines.A diet without iron may be responsible for weaker, less dense bones, according to an Ohio State study.”We’ve got a big problem with iron deficiency in this country, and iron plays a role in bone formation,” said Denis Medeiros, professor of human nutrition.The effects of iron were tested on 3-week-old laboratory rats for five weeks, he said. Researchers fed one group of rats a normal diet and the other a diet deficient in iron. “From X-rays, we could tell that the bone from the iron deficient animals was less dense than the bone of the control group,” Medeiros said. “There was less bone.”Bones with less density appeared lighter in the X-ray than normal bones, said Robert Wildman, a professor of nutrition from the University of Delaware who participated in the study.”This is significant in the sense that these animals were young animals that were growing, and this is synonymous with a child or a teenager growing,” Medeiros said. “This is the age range in humans where iron deficiency is a problem.”Iron is important in bone formation because it allows the strands of connective tissue in bones to bond together and mechanically strengthen the bone, he said.”Most of the attention (to bones) always focuses on calcium,” Wildman said.Calcium plays a role in the hardening of bones and is deposited in the connective tissue, Medeiros said.Medeiros said the study was originally performed to test the effects of iron on the heart.”My thought was if (iron) is involved in the development of connective tissue, and bone is connective tissue, why not check the bone while we’re here,” Wildman said.While the study is important, the research is still very preliminary, said Velimir Matkovic, professor of human nutrition.”It is an interesting finding, but it needs further confirmation,” he said.Good sources of iron are meats, beans, legumes, cereals, and grains, Medeiros said.”It’s just a matter of eating the right foods.”Iron supplements are not recommended unless a blood test is done and supplements are prescribed by a physician, said Jan Fonarow, dietitian at the Student Wellness Center.