Dietary zinc intake of low-income pregnant women of Mexican descent

Abstract

Zinc intakes of low-income pregnant women of Mexican descent were estimated by the use of 24-hr dietary recalls. Recalls were obtained during the first two trimesters for 344 women and again during the third trimester of pregnancy for 279 of the same women. The daily mean zinc intake was calculated as 9.4 +/- 3.8 mg during the first two trimesters and as 10.0 +/- 4.3 mg during the third trimester. For about 85% of the women, the reported intakes were below two-thirds of the Recommended Dietary Allowance for zinc. In a subsample of the women, no significant correlation was shown between low dietary zinc intakes and low serum zinc levels during either early or late pregnancy. Zinc and protein intakes were highly correlated in both early and late pregnancy (r = 0.83 and 0.89, respectively). Diets that provided 90 to 100 g of protein (about 125% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance) provided a mean of 13.6 g of zinc (67% of the Recommended Dietary Allowance).

Plasma zinc and retinol binding protein concentrations in pregnant Turkish women: A longitudinal study

“…The low plasma or serum Zn levels during pregnancy have been observed for a long time [1][2][3][4][5][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][17][18][19]22,24,25,27,30,31]. This decline has been considered as physiological phenomenon and attributed to such factors as an increase in plasma volume, changes in albumin-Zn affinity, and hormonal influences by some authors [2,13,24].…”

“…However, several investigators have observed an association between low maternal plasma/serum Zn concentration and pregnancy outcomes [1,3,[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]24,25,27,30,31]. On the other hand, it has been shown by us and others that a close association between plasma, serum Zn levels and nutrition exists during pregnancy (3,4,12,15,16,18,19,22,24,25,(27)(28)(29)(30)32). This longitudinal study once more has demonstrated that poor nutrition adversely affects plasma Zn levels, a finding that runs parallel to those of our two previous cross-sectional studies in pregnant Turkish women [4,12,13].…”

“…Maternal nutritional status in developed countries may not be at risk. However, the importance of adequate Zn nutrition during pregnancy should be emphasized, particularly for developing countries, including Turkey [1][2][3][4][10][11][12][13]18,19,22,23,25,27,30,31].…”

“…There have been several reports on Zn studies during pregnancy [1][2][3][4][5][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]25,26,27,28,30,31], indicating a decline in plasma or serum Zn levels during normal gestation. However data on "longitudinal" pregnancy studies on trace elements are rather limited in the literature [2,16,17].…”

ESTUDO SOBRE O ESTADO NUTRICIONAL EM RELAÇÃO AO ZINCO NA AMAZÔNIA. I. Níveis de Zinco no Sôro e Ingestão de Zinco em Operários de Manaus, 1978 ()

“…Soldados americanos tinham uma ingestão média de zinco, diá-ria, de 20.3mg (Milne, et al, 1978). Mulheres grávidas mexicanas de baixa renda 10.0 mg por dia (Hunt, et al, 1978). Adolecentes americanos do sexo feminino 11.3 mg diárias (Greger, et al, 1978).…”