Zinc deficiency: what are the most appropriate interventions?

doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7487.347

BMJ 2005;330:347-349 (12 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.330.7487.347

Clinical review

Zinc deficiency: what are the most appropriate interventions?

Roger Shrimpton, honorary senior research fellow¹, Rainer Gross, chief², Ian Darnton-Hill, senior adviser micronutrients², Mark Young, senior adviser Roll Back Malaria³

¹ Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, London WC1N 1EH, ² Nutrition Section, Programme Division, Unicef, New York, USA, ³ Health Section, Programme Division, Unicef

Correspondence to: R Shrimpton Roger.Shrimpton@ich.ucl.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Zinc deficiency is one of the ten biggest factors contributingto burden of disease in developing countries with high mortality.¹Since the problem was highlighted in the World Health Report2002, calls have increased for supplementation and food fortificationprogrammes.^2
3 Zinc interventions are among those proposed tohelp reduce child deaths globally by 63%.⁴ Populations in SouthEast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa are at greatest risk of zincdeficiency; zinc intakes are inadequate for about a third ofthe population and stunting affects 40% of preschool children.⁵Zinc is commonly the most deficient nutrient in complementaryfood mixtures fed to infants during weaning.⁶

Improving zinc intakes through dietary improvements is a complextask that requires considerable time and effort.⁷ The case forpromoting the use of zinc supplements and for fortifying foodswith zinc, especially those foods commonly eaten by young children,therefore seems strong. However, global policies or . . . [Full text of this article]

Sources and selection criteria

Zinc supplementation

Zinc fortification

Dietary diversification

Conclusions

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