Abstracto

Effect of iron and zinc supplementation on linear growth of stunted Egyptian children under 5 years of age.

Michael F Fares*, Hanna Aboulghar, Sarah S ElTatawy, Miriam M Aziz

Background: Linear growth is the best indicator of children’s well-being and provides an accurate marker of inequalities in human development.

Aim: Study and compare the effect of micronutrients supplementation (Iron and zinc) on linear growth of infants and children less than 5 years of age suffering from stunted growth.

Patients and Methods: A randomized study included 60 children less than 5 years of age came to the department of clinical nutrition in a university hospital for nutritional assessment. Cases randomly divided equally into two groups. Group A received iron supplementation only and group B received supplementation with iron and zinc. Follow up of length/height was done after 6 months of supplementation.

Outcome Measures: Length/height for age and sex (birth to 5 years Z-scores, WHO, 2003).

Results: On comparing the length/ height of the two groups before (p=0.472) and after supplementation (p=0.923) respectively, no statistically significant differences were found between supplementation with iron only and with iron plus zinc. Yet, upon calculation the rate of change in linear growth after 6 months, a significant difference (p=0.002) was evident on comparing group B who received zinc plus iron (mean=13.6 cm increase in height) vs. Group A who only received iron (mean=10.8 cm increase in height).

Conclusion: Zinc supplementation in addition to iron led to significant acceleration of linear growth of stunted children compared to supplementation with iron alone.