Zinc: the missing link in combating micronutrient malnutrition in developing countries

Abstract

The first cases of human Zn deficiency were described in the 1960s in the Middle East. Nevertheless, it was not until 2002 that Zn deficiency was included as a major risk factor in the global burden of disease, and only in 2004 did WHO/UNICEF include Zn supplements in the treatment of acute diarrhoea. Despite this recognition Zn is still not included in the UN micronutrient priority list, an omission that will continue to hinder efforts to reduce child and maternal mortality, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases and achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals for improved nutrition in developing countries. Reasons for this omission include a lack of awareness of the importance of Zn in human nutrition, paucity of Zn and phytate food composition values and difficulties in identifying Zn deficiency. Major factors associated with the aetiology of Zn deficiency include dietary inadequacies, disease states inducing excessive losses or impairing utilization and physiological states increasing Zn requirements. To categorize countries according to likely risk of Zn deficiency the International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group has developed indirect indicators based on the adequacy of Zn in the national food supplies and/or prevalence of childhood growth stunting. For countries identified as at risk confirmation is required through direct measurements of dietary Zn intake and/or serum Zn in a representative sample. Finally, in at risk countries either national or targeted Zn interventions such as supplementation, fortification, dietary diversification or modification, or biofortification should be implemented, where appropriate, by incorporating them into pre-existing micronutrient intervention programmes.

Growth and visual information processing in infants in Southern Ethiopia

“…We evaluated three measures of growth that reflect subtle differences in nutritional status. Decreased length for age is associated with longer term energy deficits and/or specific nutrient deficiencies (e.g., zinc or iron (Gibson, 2006;Bougle, Laroche, & Bureau, 2000), while lower weight for age reflects recent deficits in energy intake. Head circumference is less susceptible to nutritional insult and more directly reflects brain growth (Black, 2003;World Health Organization, 1986).…”

Zinc fractions in soil and uptake by wheat as affected by different preceding crops

“…Back Cross) growing areas leads to inherently low grain Zn concentration and is considered as a major factor in low human Zn intake (Alloway 2009). Biofortification of staple food plants is considered a promising strategy to improve the Zn status (Gibson 2006). Biofortification is the increase of bioavailable nutrient density in edible crop plant parts through genetic or agronomic techniques (Cakmak 2008).…”

Increasing the utilisation of sorghum, millets and pseudocereals: Developments in the science of their phenolic phytochemicals, biofortification and protein functionality

“…It was found that although there was a decrease in mineral content with extraction rate in all three varieties, the biofortified varieties maintained their substantially higher iron and zinc contents down to at least a 70% extraction rate (probably the maximum used in practice) (Hama et al, 2012). With zinc, the phytate: zinc ratio was much lower for the biofortified varieties (<18:1) than the traditional variety at all extraction levels, a ratio that corresponds to moderate bioavailability (Gibson, 2006). The phytate: ratio for iron of the biofortified varieties, although lower, was, however, considerably >1, indicating no improvement in iron bioavailability.…”

“…Buckwheat has a total phenolic content ranging from 29 to 1371 mg/100 g, depending on the method of extraction, and which standard (gallic acid or ferulic acid) was used calibration Gallardo et al (2006); Guo et al (2011) Gallardo et al (2006( ) Przybylski et al (1998 Pasko et al (2008) concentrations, these have beneficial effects on cellular responses and immune function (Pham-Huy et al, 2008). However, at high concentrations they cause the condition known as oxidative stress which is harmful to cell structures.…”