Report of a Meeting Zinc deficiency in children with environmental enteropathy— development of new strategies: report from an expert workshop1–4 (original) (raw)
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The American journal of clinical nutrition, 2014
Zinc deficiency is a major cause of childhood morbidity and mortality. The WHO/UNICEF strategy for zinc supplementation as adjunctive therapy for diarrhea is poorly implemented. A conference of experts in zinc nutrition and gastrointestinal disorders was convened to consider approaches that might complement the current recommendation and what research was needed to develop these approaches. Several key points were identified. The design of novel zinc interventions would be facilitated by a better understanding of how disturbed gut function, such as environmental (or tropical) enteropathy, affects zinc absorption, losses, and homeostasis. Because only 10% of zinc stores are able to be rapidly turned over, and appear to be rapidly depleted by acute intestinal illness, they are probably best maintained by complementary regular supplementation in a primary prevention strategy rather than secondary prevention triggered by acute diarrhea. The assessment of zinc status is challenging and c...
The role of zinc supplementation for diarrhoea in children: a critical review
Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science
Background: Nearly 1.7 million children suffer from diarrhoea and around 760,000 die each year. The high prevalence of diarrhoea in the developing countries is closely related to lack of safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and hygiene, and poor health and nutritional status. These environmental conditions facilitate the spread of infectious disease easily. The great morbidity and mortality of this preventable and treatable disease raise concern on how to save children from this fatal disease by improving management of diarrhoea. Several studies suggest that zinc deficiency contribute towards high morbidity and mortality in diarrhoea. Further, there is an area of uncertainty regarding how significant zinc supplementation will help to reduce the duration and severity of diarrhoea in children compared to the diarrhoea management without zinc? Objective: To critically analyse the current evidences of zinc supplementation in diarrhoea. Data Sources: Keywords searching through MEDL...
Zinc Supplementation in the Case of Diarrheal Disease
2016
In this extensive literature review, the micronutrient zinc and its efficacy in treating and preventing diarrheal disease in children under the age of five was reviewed. With diarrheal disease being the second leading cause of death in the developing world, this paper hopes to reveal the gaps in not only the research, but in practice and policy as well. After further investigation, it seems that zinc plays a significant role in the treatment and prevention of diarrheal diseases in children over six months of age; however, this micronutrient appears to be ineffective in both treating and preventing diarrhea in infants younger than six months. The implications of this study also highlight the importance of zinc implementation programs and research within each country, wide acceptance of the effectiveness of zinc among healthcare providers and families, a change in behavioral practices as well as the improvement of other sectors of health, including water sanitation and hygiene.
The American journal of clinical nutrition, 1997
A community-based, double-blind, randomized trial was conducted in a population of low socioeconomic status in urban India to determine whether daily zinc supplementation reduces the incidence and prevalence of acute diarrhea, especially in those with zinc deficiency. Children 6-35 mo of age were randomly assigned to zinc (n = 286) and control (n = 293) groups and received a supplement daily for 6 mo. Zinc gluconate (10 mg elemental Zn) was given, with both zinc and control groups also receiving multivitamins. The primary outcome measures determined by home visits every fifth day and physician examinations were the number of acute diarrheal episodes (incidence) and total diarrheal days (prevalence). Zinc supplementation had no effect in children 6-11 mo old. In children aged > 11 mo there was significantly less diarrhea in the zinc group. In boys > 11 mo old, supplementation resulted in a 26% (95% CI: 13%, 38%) lower diarrheal incidence and a 35% (95% CI: 20%, 50%) lower preva...