Research paper
Randomized controlled trial of prenatal zinc supplementation and fetal bone growth.
Study answer
What this study found
Prenatal zinc supplementation improved fetal femur diaphysis length, with the effect becoming stronger as gestation progressed. Estimated average differences between zinc-supplemented and non-zinc-supplemented fetuses were 0.18 for head circumference (P=0.87), 0.05 for biparietal diameter (P=0.83), 0.28 for abdominal circumference (P=0.80), and 0.46 mm for femur diaphysis length (P=0.01). The interaction with gestational age was significant (P<0.05). No significant differences were seen for the other fetal biometric measures, supporting a selective effect on fetal bone growth.
- Study & population
- Randomized controlled trial in pregnant women from an impoverished shantytown in Lima, Peru, with marginal zinc status and singleton, low-risk pregnancies.
- Intervention
- Prenatal zinc supplementation consisted of 25 mg/day zinc as zinc sulfate, given together with 60 mg/day iron as ferrous sulfate and folic acid.
- Key limitation
- The analysis was limited to 195 of 242 enrolled women, indicating incomplete follow-up/analysis.
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Open PDFOriginal abstract
BACKGROUND Maternal zinc deficiency is relatively common in developing countries, but its consequences for fetal growth are not established. OBJECTIVE The goal was to examine whether improvement in maternal gestational zinc status is positively assoc…