Abstract
Objective: To assess the impact of zinc supplementation during acute diarrhoea on subsequent growth and morbidity in malnourished young children. Design: Double blind randomized controlled clinical trial Setting: International Centre for Diarrhoea Disease Research, Bangladesh. Subjects: Sixty-five children aged 3-24 months with acute diarrhoea for less than 3 d. Intervention: Either elemental zinc (20 mg/d) in a multivitamin syrup or multivitamin syrup alone divided in three divided daily doses for a period of two weeks. Children were followed up weekly at home to assess subsequent growth and morbidity for a period of eight weeks. Main outcome measures: Gain in length and body weight and reduction in diarrhoea and respiratory tract infection. Results: During the follow-up, zinc supplemented children showed significantly greater cumulative length gain (18.9 mm vs 14.5 mm, P < 0.03) and comparable body weight gain than the children of the control group. Subsequent length gain was not correlated with initial height in the zinc-supplemented group (r = -0.13), P = 0.5), but was significantly correlated in the control group (r = -0.6, P < 0.0007). Zinc-supplemented and stunted children (≤ 90% length for age n = 18) experienced significantly fewer episodes of diarrhoea (0.07 vs 0.6, P < 0.05) and respiratory illness (1.0 vs 2.4, P < 0.01) compared to the control group. The underweight children (≤ 71% weight/age n = 38) receiving zinc-supplementation also had fewer episodes of diarrhoea (0.4 vs 1.0, P < 0.04) and shorter duration of diarrhoeal episodes (1.0 vs 3.0 d, P < 0.04) compared to their counterparts in the control group. Conclusion: These results suggest that a short course of zinc supplementation to malnourished children during acute diarrhoea reduces growth-faltering and diarrhoeal and respiratory morbidity during subsequent two months.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 529-534 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | European Journal of Clinical Nutrition |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1999 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Acknowledgements — This research was supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). The ICDDR,B is supported by countries and agencies which share its concern for the health problems of developing countries. Current donors include: the aid agencies of the Governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States; international organizations including Arab Gulf Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Union, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO); private foundations including Aga Khan Foundation, Child Health Foundation (CHF), Ford Foundation, Population Council, Rockefellar Foundation and the Sasakawa Foundation; and private organizations including American Express Bank, Bayer A.G., CARE, Family Health International, Helen Keller International, the Johns Hopkins University, Macro International, New England Medical Centre, Procter Gamble, RAND Corporation, SANDOZ, Swiss Red Cross, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Iowa, Wander A.G. and others. We acknowledge Quazi Eliza Begum, Sabira Islam, Azmira Begum, and Zerin Sultana for the field work and Drs Iqbal Kabir, Abbas Bhuiyan and Aminul Islam for reviewing this manuscript. We acknowledge Mr KM Rafique for his help in preparing this manuscript.
Funding
Acknowledgements — This research was supported by the Wellcome Trust (UK) and the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B). The ICDDR,B is supported by countries and agencies which share its concern for the health problems of developing countries. Current donors include: the aid agencies of the Governments of Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States; international organizations including Arab Gulf Fund, Asian Development Bank, European Union, the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the World Health Organization (WHO); private foundations including Aga Khan Foundation, Child Health Foundation (CHF), Ford Foundation, Population Council, Rockefellar Foundation and the Sasakawa Foundation; and private organizations including American Express Bank, Bayer A.G., CARE, Family Health International, Helen Keller International, the Johns Hopkins University, Macro International, New England Medical Centre, Procter Gamble, RAND Corporation, SANDOZ, Swiss Red Cross, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Iowa, Wander A.G. and others. We acknowledge Quazi Eliza Begum, Sabira Islam, Azmira Begum, and Zerin Sultana for the field work and Drs Iqbal Kabir, Abbas Bhuiyan and Aminul Islam for reviewing this manuscript. We acknowledge Mr KM Rafique for his help in preparing this manuscript.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Wellcome Trust | |
| International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research Bangladesh |
Keywords
- Acute diarrhoea
- Growth
- Morbidity
- Subsequent
- Zinc supplementation
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Medicine (miscellaneous)
- Nutrition and Dietetics
