title: Linear growth of low income preschool children receiving a zinc supplement.
abstract: The effects of a zinc supplement on growth velocity were assessed in a double-blind, pair-matched controlled study in 40 children with low growth percentiles. Participants were low-income Spanish-American children, 2 to 6 yr of age with heights below the 10th percentile and nutritional or biochemical evidence of zinc deficiency. After 1 yr, the mean height velocity of the zinc-supplemented children was slightly, but significantly (p less than 0.005), greater than that of control children. This effect was primarily due to a greater height achievement of the zinc-supplemented boys. Increases in height-for-age z-scores were also significant for the supplemented males (p less than 0.001) and for the combined sexes (p less than 0.05). This study indicates the existence of a growth-limiting syndrome of mild zinc deficiency in children.
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001827:Body Height / Q000187:drug effects; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006128:Growth / Q000187:drug effects*; D006130:Growth Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D015032:Zinc / Q000172:deficiency / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc