Zinc is an essential mineral, necessary for sustaining all life. It is required to maintain the normal structure and/or function of multiple enzymes. Zinc has received increasing attention because of the recently available evidence that its deficiency may have grave consequences in humans. Zinc deficiency is common in children from developing country due to lack of intake of animal foods, high dietary phytate content, inadequate food intake and increased fecal losses during diarrhea. On the opposite, consuming of higher concentrations of zinc can cause ataxia, lethargy, and copper deficiency.
Zinc has a fundamental role in cellular metabolism, with profound effects on the immune system and the intestinal mucosa. There is a correlation between low plasma-zinc concentrations in children and a greater susceptibility to infections since zinc able to directly affect the enhancement of antimicrobial action in the gastrointestinal tract. Zinc supplementation has shown significant benefits in prevention and treatment of diarrhea and pneumonia. Routine zinc supplementation given to low birth weight babies for a year has resulted in substantial reduction in mortality.
Zinc in Diarrhea. The effects of zinc supplementation on prevention of diarrhea and the therapeutic benefits of zinc given during a diarrheal episode have been well evaluated. It is known that zinc-supplemented children had 15% faster recovery with a 22% reduction in the diarrheal acute episodes lasting more than 7 days. The total stool output in the zinc treated children was reduced by 31%. The effect of zinc on prevention diarrhea did not vary significantly with age or nutritional status. It also was not dependent upon the type of zinc salts: zinc sulfate, zinc acetate, or zinc gluconate.
WHO Task Force, 2001, and the National task Force of lAP has recommended use of zinc in the treatment of diarrhea. It is also recommended as part of standard case management in persistent diarrhea since zinc is able to decrease duration of diarrheal episodes, lower stool frequency and result in 40% reduction of treatment failures or deaths. WHO recommend the use of 20 mg per day of zinc supplementation for 10 to 14 days (10 mg per day for infants under the age of six months) for diarrhea control. Therapeutic benefits of zinc administration during diarrhea are biologically plausible because of its effects on various components of the immune system and its direct gastrointestinal effects. Zinc is said to improve absorption of water and electrolytes by helping in early regeneration of intestinal mucosa, restoration of enteric enzymes and enhancing humoral and cellular immunity.
Zinc in Pneumonia (Respiratory Infection). Zinc supplementation in baby aged between 4 and 36 months had showed 40% of commutative reduction in episodes of pneumonia. A large trial from India had sufficient power to measure the 26% reduction in clinical pneumonia. In Bangladesh, zinc supplementation resulted in 30% reduction in duration of severe pneumonia and significant shorter duration of individual markers of disease severity such as fast breathing, chest in drawing and hypoxia.
Zinc effect in mortality. According to the research, routine zinc supplementation may have some effect on mortality by reduced the mortality as much as 68% in small for gestational age full term infants who were given 5 mg of zinc daily from 30 days to 284 days. In Lesotho, continuous zinc supplementation was evaluated for mortality during hospitalization and morbidity for 3 months post discharge in severely malnourished children. Mortality during hospitalization was significantly lower in the zinc supplemented group (4.7%), compared with 16.7% in those not receiving zinc.
The other effect of zinc is its ability to act as a neurotransmitter and by influencing cell division, maturation, and growth early in fetal life it may determine later neuro development and intellect. Large doses of zinc may reduce copper absorption from the gut and have been used in the treatment of Wilson’s disease. Zinc has also been found to be of benefit in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
Zinc deficiency appears to be common in developing countries and it is important to recognize zinc deficiency as a public health problem. There are several approaches to mitigate zinc deficiency. The most important would be to improve the dietary quality and intake of infants, children and women. Zinc supplementation has been shown to reduce diarrhea prevalence and mortality in children younger than 5 years of age.
From now we have to pay much attention to what our baby eat, because it is related to the food’s nutrition which has great affect to our baby’s health.
References:
- Bhatnagar S, Natchu UCM, Zinc in Child Health and Disease, Indian Journal of Pediatrics, Volume 71–November, 2004.
- Zinc Wikipedia
If you enjoyed the articles, you can sign up for our daily email newsletter.