title: Improvement of serum zinc levels in young Japanese women by provision of food information.
abstract: We investigated whether or not an intervention of providing food information improves serum Zn levels in ninety-two 18-20-year-old Japanese women. The mean serum Zn level of the participants was 73.09 ± 10.56 (mean ± SD) μg/dL, where 79 % of the participants had lower than the reference Zn level (80 μg/dL) proposed by the Japan Society for Biomedical Research on Trace Elements. Participants were divided into food information (INF) group, supplement (SPL) group, and control (C) group, and their serum Zn levels were measured before and after 2 weeks of intervention. The results showed that changes in serum Zn levels were (expressed in μg/dL): 71.23 ± 8.42 to 76.83 ± 12.22 in INF group (NS; not significant), 72.72 ± 10.77 to 84.07 ± 12.03 in SPL group (P < 0.01), and 72.69 ± 9.46 to 74.52 ± 11.44 in C group (NS). Percentage of normal subjects in serum Zn level (>79 mg/dL) were significantly increased in INF group (16.7 to 40%, P < 0.05) and SPL group (17.2 to 69%, P < 0.001) by each intervention. Food information only entailed a table of food items with high Zn content (card-type) and Zn intake menu (recipes). The results suggested that providing food information is effective in improving latent low Zn in young Japanese women.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Graduate School of Nutritional Sciences, Sagami Women's University, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Soonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Miho
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mizoi
authors.forename: Emi
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nakatani
authors.forename: Shuichi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Adachi
authors.forename: Yuichi
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Miyakoshi
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yanagisawa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D004034:Diet Surveys / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005515:Food Labeling / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D009753:Nutritive Value; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult; D015032:Zinc / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015032:Zinc