ZINC INTAKE, ZINC STATUS AND GROWTH IN A LONGITUDINAL-STUDY OF HEALTHY DANISH INFANTS

Mild, growth-limiting zinc deficiency might be prevalent in otherwise healthy infants according to recent studies. We examined zinc intake a nd status in 91 healthy term infants from birth to 12 months, as part of the Copenhagen Cohort Study on Infant Nutrition and Growth, Zinc in take was recorded monthly and the amount of zinc absorbed was estimate d. These estimates were below recently published FAO/WHO/IAEA values f or basal requirements in 68%, 62% and 14% of the infants at 2, 4 and 9 months of age, respectively. Serum zinc decreased significantly (p < 0.01) from 10.6 mu mol/l at 6 months to 8.4 mu mol/l at 9 months of ag e (normal range 10-18 mu mol/l). Erythrocyte metallothionein values, a tentative indicator of long-term zinc status, decreased significantly from 2 to 6 months (p < 0.001) and from 6 to 9 months (p < 0.01). Ser um zinc at 9 months was positively associated with growth velocity dur ing the period from 6 to 9 months (weight: p = 0.05; knee-heel length: p = 0.002). The results provide descriptive data on zinc intake and z inc status in healthy Danish infants. Although some of our data sugges t suboptimal zinc status during late infancy, evidence for this can on ly be obtained through a randomized intervention study.