Some infant milk formulae have a lower zinc content than the original cow's milk. Zinc is a nutrient necessary for growth and, in this double-blind controlled study, the effects of supplementing Similac with iron with 4 mg/liter of zinc were determined. By 6 months of age, mean growth increments for the supplemented male infants were 2.1 cm greater in length (P less than 0.025) and 535 g greater in weight (P less than 0.05) than for male controls. Growth increments for female test and control infants did not differ significantly. Plasma zinc levels were, at 3 months of age, significantly higher for both male and female supplemented infants. By 6 months, only the male supplemented infants maintained significantly higherplasma zinc levels (P less than 0.025). The addition of zinc was associated with a lower incidence of disturbed gastrointestinal function (P less than 0.005) and not accompanied by any signs of toxicity.
The effects of a zinc supplement on growth velocity were assessed in a double-blind, pair-matched controlled study in 40 children with low growth percentiles. Participants were low-income Spanish-American children, 2 to 6 yr of age with heights below the 10th percentile and nutritional or biochemical evidence of zinc deficiency. After 1 yr, the mean height velocity of the zinc-supplemented children was slightly, but significantly (p less than 0.005), greater than that of control children. This effect was primarily due to a greater height achievement of the zinc-supplemented boys. Increases in height-for-age z-scores were also significant for the supplemented males (p less than 0.001) and for the combined sexes (p less than 0.05). This study indicates the existence of a growth-limiting syndrome of mild zinc deficiency in children.
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