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Vitamin A and Zinc Supplementation of Preschool Children

U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center, Phytonutrients Laboratory (J.C.S., D.R.), Beltsville, Maryland
Home Economics and Human Nutrition, Lincoln University (D.M.), Jefferson City, Missouri
Belize Vision Center, (A.H.), Belize City, Central America
Biometric Consulting Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center and Animal and Avian Sciences Department, University of Maryland, (L.W.D.), College Park, Maryland

Address reprint requests to: J.C. Smith, Jr.; USDA, ARS, BHNRC, PL, Building 307, Room 323, BARC-East, 10300 Baltimore Avenue, Beltsville, MD 20705-2350

Objective: To determine whether supplementation of vitamin A and/or zinc (Zn) improved serum levels of these nutrients and/or height and weight gains in preschool children, 22 to 66 months, living in Belize, Central America.

Methods: Subjects received either Zn, vitamin A, Zn and vitamin A or a placebo, (70 mg Zn and/or 3030 RE vitamin A, once per week) for 6 months in a 2x2 factorial design. Forty-three children, from a population of 104 prescreened, completed the study; they were selected, prior to treatment, for low/marginal serum concentrations of these micronutrients.

Results: Serum Zn levels were greater (16%, p<0.001) for those who received Zn. In contrast, after vitamin A treatment there were no differences in serum vitamin A among groups. Although increases in height (+4.4 cm, p<0.001) and weight (+0.79 kg, p<0.001), compared with baseline values, were numerically greatest for children who received both supplements, only the vitamin A supplementation effect was significant, resulting in increased height (+1.4 cm, p<0.002) and greater weight gain (+0.15 kg, p<0.03) compared to those receiving no vitamin A. Vitamin A supplementation alone significantly increased (p<0.001) hemoglobin concentration.

Conclusion: The results suggest that the preschool children in this study, prescreened for low/marginal serum concentrations from a larger population prior to treatment, were enduring inadequate vitamin A and, to a lesser degree, Zn nutriture. Height and weight gain were significantly increased in the subjects who received a single weekly supplement 3030 RE of vitamin A.

Key words: vitamin A supplementation, zinc supplementation, double-blind design, preschool children, covariance analysis, growth, weight gain, hemoglobin

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