Does Zinc Improve Children's Growth? 37059

Does Zinc Improve Children's Growth?

OAKLAND, Calif.--Zinc deficiency in prepubescent children with sicklecell disease may lead to stalled growth; however, researchers from theChildren's Hospital of Philadelphia and colleagues discovered that zincsupplementation can enhance linear growth and weight gain in these children. Theresearch, published in the February 2002 issue of the American Journal ofClinical Nutrition (75, 2:300-07, 2002) (www.ajcn.org),was conducted with 42 prepubertal children with sickle cell disease who wererandomly assigned to receive 10 mg/d of elemental zinc or placebo. Bodycomposition was determined at six and 12 months. There were no significantdifferences between the children at baseline.

Of the original 42 children, 38 completed the study. After 12 months, thezinc group demonstrated a significantly greater mean increase in height, sittingheight, knee height and arm circumference than the control group. Height andweight, as compared to age group, decreased significantly in the control group,but were not affected in the zinc group. Researchers concluded that adding zincto the diets of sickle cell diseased children can enhance height and weightgain.

While these results are promising, a study published in the same journal lastmonth (75, 1:87-91, 2002) indicated that short-term supplementation with zincand vitamin A had no effect on the growth of undernourished children.Researchers from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research inDhaka, Bangladesh, studied the possibility that adding zinc to a vitamin Aregimen might enhance growth in undernourished children. However, of 653children in the trial--randomly assigned to receive 20 mg/d of zinc for 14 days,60,000 retinol equivalents of vitamin A on day 14, zinc plus vitamin A, orplacebo--none demonstrated significant weight or height changes over thesix-month study period.