There is no convincing evidence that zinc supplementation to infants or children results in improved motor or mental development
BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency is a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries .
Zinc is essential for the formation and migration of neurons along with the formation of neuronal synapses .
Its deficiency could interfere with the formation of neural pathways and with neurotransmission , thus affecting behavior ( for example , attention , activity , engagement , temperament ) and development ( for example , gross and fine motor skills , social skills ) .
Zinc supplementation provided to infants and children is a possible strategy to improve the mental and motor development of infants and children at high risk of zinc deficiency .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of zinc supplementation compared to placebo on measures of psychomotor development or cognitive function in children .
A preliminary report: effects of zinc and micronutrient repletion on growth and neuropsychological function of urban Chinese children.
OBJECTIVE Zinc is essential for growth and cognition of experimental animals . Past research found zinc repletion improved growth of stunted Chinese children . Therefore we measured effects of zinc repletion on growth and neuropsychological functions of children . DESIGN Double-blind r and omized controlled treatment trial . SETTING Elementary schools in low income districts of Chongqing , Qingdao and Shanghai . SUBJECTS Three hundred-seventy-two 6 to 9 year old first grade rs . INTERVENTIONS Treatments were 20 mg zinc , 20 mg zinc with micronutrients , or micronutrients alone . The micronutrient mixture was based on guidelines of the US NAS/NRC . Treatments were assigned to classrooms of 40 or more children each , and administered by teachers 6 days per week for 10 weeks . MEASURES OF OUTCOME Changes in knee height and neuropsychological functions . RESULTS Zinc alone had the least effect on growth while zinc with micronutrients had the largest effect ; micronutrients alone had an intermediate effect . Zinc-containing treatments improved neuropsychological functions , but micronutrients alone had little effect . CONCLUSIONS The findings confirm the essentiality of zinc for growth of children , and show , for the first time , the essentiality of zinc for neuropsychological functions of children . In addition , the need for repletion of other potentially limiting nutrients in studies examining the effects of specific nutrients on growth and neuropsychological functions was confirmed
There is no convincing evidence that zinc supplementation to infants or children results in improved motor or mental development
BACKGROUND Zinc deficiency is a significant public health problem in low- and middle-income countries .
Zinc is essential for the formation and migration of neurons along with the formation of neuronal synapses .
Its deficiency could interfere with the formation of neural pathways and with neurotransmission , thus affecting behavior ( for example , attention , activity , engagement , temperament ) and development ( for example , gross and fine motor skills , social skills ) .
Zinc supplementation provided to infants and children is a possible strategy to improve the mental and motor development of infants and children at high risk of zinc deficiency .
OBJECTIVES To assess the effects of zinc supplementation compared to placebo on measures of psychomotor development or cognitive function in children .