Weekly Zinc Chelate Supplementation on Children's Growth

Effect of Weekly Zinc Chelate Supplementation on Schoolchildren's Growth: a Randomized Double-blind Controlled Trial

The purpose of this study is to measure the effect of weekly zinc supplementation on schoolchildren with growth deficit or normal stature.

Zinc is an important micronutrient for humans. Trials with zinc have shown positive effects of supplementation on growth, but there is still a lack of results on schoolchildren population. This Randomized Double-Blind Controlled Trial was design to measure the effect of weekly zinc supplementation on schoolchildren with growth deficit and normal stature. Schoolchildren were allocated into two homogeneous groups named Growth Deficit (HAZ < -1,5 Z-score), and Normal Stature (HAZ between -1,0 and ±1,0 Z-score) and were randomly assigned to compose two exposed and two control groups to receive a supplement of 30mg of zinc amino acid chelate or placebo individually once a week, during 12 weeks. Children's heights were measured at the end of supplementation period and again after 12 weeks.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Children with one and a half or more standard deviations below the mean height for age and gender of the reference population (Z-score under -1.6) were included in the Growth Deficit group (GD). For the Normal Stature group(NS), HAZ was set up as being between -1 and +1 standard deviations from the mean height reference for age and sex.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Children of GD group were evaluated by a Pediatrician specialized in growth disorders with the objective of excluding any organic or genetic condition correlated with growth deficit.