Nutritional assessment methods for zinc supplementation in prepubertal non-zinc-deficient
children
Sammanfattning
Background: Zinc is an essential nutrient that is required for numerous metabolic functions, and
zinc
deficiency results in growth retardation, cell-mediated immune dysfunction, and cognitive
impairment.
Objective: This study evaluated nutritional assessment methods for zinc supplementation in
prepubertal nonzinc-
deficient children.
Design: We performed a randomised, controlled, triple-blind study. The children were divided into a
control
group (10% sorbitol, n31) and an experimental group (10 mg Zn/day, n31) for 3 months.
Anthropometric
and dietary assessments as well as bioelectrical measurements were performed in all children.
Results: Our study showed (1) an increased body mass index for age and an increased phase angle
in the
experimental group; (2) a positive correlation between nutritional assessment parameters in both
groups; (3)
increased soft tissue, and mainly fat-free mass, in the body composition of the experimental group,
as
determined using bioelectrical impedance vector analysis; (4) increased consumption of all nutrients,
including zinc, in the experimental group; and (5) an increased serum zinc concentration in both
groups
(pB0.0001).
Conclusions: Given that a reference for body composition analysis does not exist for intervention
studies,
longitudinal studies are needed to investigate vector migration during zinc supplementation. These
results
reinforce the importance of employing multiple techniques to assess the nutritional status of
populations.