Serum zinc level and its effect on anthropometric measurements in 7-11 year-old children with different socioeconomic backgrounds

This study was performed in order to determine the serum zinc (Zn) level of primary school students, to show the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on the zinc level, and finally to show the effect of zinc deficiency on the anthropometric parameters. Ten different primary schools were included in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	International journal for vitamin and nutrition research Vol. 74; no. 1; pp. 52 - 56
Main Authors:	Tanzer, F, Yaylaci, G, Ustdal, M, Yonem, O
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Bern Hogrefe & Huber 2004 Kirkland, WA Toronto, ON
Subjects:	Anthropometry - methods Biological and medical sciences Body Height - physiology Body Weight - physiology Child Feeding. Feeding behavior Female Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology Humans Male Social Class Spectrophotometry, Atomic - methods Turkey Vertebrates: anatomy and physiology, studies on body, several organs or systems Zinc - blood Zinc - deficiency Turkey Human anthropometric measurements Serum Serum Zn level Child Zinc
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Summary:	This study was performed in order to determine the serum zinc (Zn) level of primary school students, to show the effect of socioeconomic status (SES) on the zinc level, and finally to show the effect of zinc deficiency on the anthropometric parameters. Ten different primary schools were included in the study according to SES. Four-mL venous blood samples were obtained under fasting conditions using disposable plastic syringes. Four hundred thirty-two randomly chosen students between 7 and 11 years of age were investigated. All the children were living in Sivas, a city located in the middle eastern part of Turkey. Serum Zn level was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (Hitachi 2-800). The weight and height of each child was recorded. The SES of children included in this study was as follows: 43.1% low (n = 186), 34.3% middle (n = 148), and 22.7% high (n = 98). Mean serum Zn levels of low and middle SES subjects were 56.3 +/- 17.50 micrograms/dL and 86.6 +/- 26.8 micrograms/dL respectively, while in children with high SES the mean serum Zn was 110.7 +/- 24.50 micrograms/dL. The difference between the groups was found to be statistically significant (F = 19.545, p < 0.05). When height-for-age z-scores were calculated according to SES, 105 of 186 children (56.4%) with low SES were found to have a z-score of -2 or lower and 14 of 147 children with middle SES had a z-score of -2 or lower. None of the children in the high SES group had a z-score of -2 or lower.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23
ISSN:	0300-9831 1664-2821
DOI:	10.1024/0300-9831.74.1.52