Maternal zinc supplementation reduces diarrheal morbidity in peruvian infants.
OBJECTIVE
To test whether zinc supplementation during pregnancy would reduce infant morbidity rates.


METHODS
A double-blind, randomized controlled trial of prenatal zinc supplementation was conducted from 1995 to 1997 in a periurban slum of Lima, Peru. Participants were randomly assigned to receive daily supplementation with zinc (15 mg zinc + 60 mg iron + 250 microg folic acid) or placebo (60 iron + 250 microg folic acid) from 10 to 24 weeks gestation until 1 month postpartum. Anthropometry was measured monthly from birth through age 12 months, and morbidity and dietary intake were measured weekly from 6 to 12 months (n = 421).


RESULTS
The average percentage of observation days with diarrhea among infants prenatally treated with zinc (5.8%) was reduced compared with infants in the control group (7.7%) (P = .01). Prenatal zinc supplementation reduced the likelihood of an infant experiencing diarrheal episodes of acute diarrhea lasting longer than 7 days (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.43, 0.99, P = .04) and mucus in the stool (OR 0.65 95% CI 0.46, 0.92, P = .01) adjusting for infant age, breastfeeding, season, and hygiene and sanitation covariates. No treatment effects on respiratory illnesses, fever, or skin conditions were detected.


CONCLUSIONS
Improving prenatal zinc nutrition protected against diarrheal morbidity in infant offspring through 12 months of age.
Institute of Public Health, George Warren Brown School of Social Work, St. Louis, MO.
Lora L
LL
Iannotti
Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, Peru.
Nelly
N
Zavaleta
Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, Peru.
Zulema
Z
León
Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, Peru.
Clara
C
Huasquiche
Department of Nutrition, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA.
Anuraj H
AH
Shankar
Center for Human Nutrition, Department of International Health, The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD. Electronic address: lcaulfie@jhsph.edu.
Laura E
LE
Caulfield
D001942:Breast Feeding; D003968:Diarrhea, Infantile / Q000517:prevention & control*; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D009017:Morbidity; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010568:Peru; D011295:Prenatal Care; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D012621:Seasons; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors