Zinc effects on growth and development of infant with low birth weight.

Abstract

Background: Zinc is a trace element with a great importance for both intrauterine and postnatal growth of infant with growth retardation.
Objective: To assess the effect of zinc sulphate supplementation on the growth and psychomotor development in a cohort of infant with low birth weight during their first year.
Patients and methods: A double blind longitudinal study of a cohort of 163 infants was carried out. Infants were randomly assigned into two groups, the supplemented group with 87 infants received a dose of 10 mg/day of zinc sulphate solution during 6 months and the non supplemented group with 76 infants received a dose of 10 ml/day of physiologic solution without zinc in the same period.
Results: The increased weight is positively related to zinc supplementation as is evidenced by the weight gain graph and the repeated measures of analysis, whereas, the height variable is not influenced in the same way. In relation to the psychomotor variables, the motor developmental index is positively influenced by zinc supplementation but the mental developmental index is not influenced by the supplementation.
Conclusions: Zinc supplementation with 10 mg of zinc sulphate to infants with low birth weight during 6 months may be beneficial for increasing weight and motor development.