Zinc Supplements Boosts Immune System in Malnourished Children

Malnourished children can prevent diarrhoea and other serious infections with intake of zinc supplements, a new study reveals.

Zinc deficiency, which affects an estimated 1 in 6 people is more common in parts of Latin America, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia.  Among children, 1 in every 58 deaths under the age five is related to zinc deficiency. Zinc is not produced in the human body; hence it needs to be introducted into the body through diet. This micronutrient is known to play a crucial role in growth as well as the immune, nervous and reproductive systems. 

In the current study, i.e. the first Cochrane systematic review, the researchers concentrated on zinc as a means to curb childhood death including death caused by diarrhoea that is responsible for a large number of death among children of age 5 and below.

They verified whether zinc supplements lowers childhood death and also boosts growth. For this, they examined data from nearly 80 trials that involved 205,401 children of age six months - 12 years.  Most of the children belonged to low and middle income countries.  Based on the analysis, they revealed that zinc supplements could benefit children as a part of wider programmes to address public health and nutrition challenges in these countries.

"We should remember that supplements are not a substitute for a well-balanced diet," said senior researcher Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta from the Center of Excellence in Women and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan, and Sick Kids Center for Global Child Health, Toronto, Canada. "However, in countries where zinc deficiency is common, supplements may help to reduce child deaths and related diseases in the short-term."

The researchers noticed that the children who took zinc supplements were less prone to suffer from diarrhoea and were also slightly taller by the end of the trials when compared to those who did not take any zinc supplements.

"Eating foods with balanced energy and protein and multiple micronutrients would probably have a larger effect for many malnourished children," said Evan Mayo-Wilson, the lead author based at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, Maryland.

The only side effect noticed was an increase in vomiting among those who took zinc supplements, but the overall benefit clearly outweighs these side effects.

Diets rich in zinc is beef, lamb, seafood, spinach, wheat germ, nuts, pumpkin, coco, chocolate, mushroom, beans and pork.