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ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION IMPROVES PREGNANCY OUTCOMES.

Data from animal studies suggest that prenatal zinc deficiency can lead to congenital malformations, but human studies have provided mixed results. This randomized study evaluated the effect of zinc supplementation on the pregnancy outcomes of 580 African-American women attending public health clinics in Alabama. The 580 enrollees were selected because their plasma zinc levels were below the median for the population. At a mean gestational age of 19 weeks, they were given a non-zinc- containing prenatal vitamin plus either 25 mg of zinc or placebo. The women who took zinc had infants with significantly greater birth weight (3214 vs 3088 g) and head circumference (34.2 vs 33.8 cm) than those on placebo. Zinc supplementation was also associated with a greater gestational age at birth (38.8 vs 38.3 weeks) and shorter neonatal hospital stay (3.6 vs 4.7 days). Infants born to thinner women -- whose body mass indices were less than 26 kg per square meter -- were found to benefit most from zinc. Comment: Women on daily zinc supplementation had infants with significantly better outcomes than those taking placebo, suggesting that zinc should be included in neonatal vitamin supplements.

— TH Lee

Published in Journal Watch General Medicine August 25, 1995

Citation(s):

Goldenberg RL, et al. The effect of zinc supplementation on pregnancy outcome. JAMA 1995 Aug 9 274 463-468.

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