ZINC SUPPLEMENTATION IN VERY-LOW-BIRTH-WEIGHT INFANTS

Inadequate zinc intake may lead to poor growth and developmental outco me in very-low-birth-weight (VLBW; <1,500 g) infants. Fifty-two infant s (mean birth weight, 1,117 +/- 287 g, mean gestational age, 29 +/- 2. 9 weeks) were randomly allocated to two groups. SUPP infants received a regular term formula plus zinc supplements (4.4 mg/L; final content, 11 mg/L); PLAC infants received the same formula plus placebo (final content, 6.7 mg/L). Infants started their formula at 1,853 +/- 109 g a nd consumed the formula for 6 months. All subjects were evaluated at 3 , 6, 9, and 12 +/- 0.75 months corrected-for-gestational-age. At each evaluation, weight, length, and head circumference were measured, a Gr iffiths developmental assessment was performed. and a blood sample was taken. Higher plasma zinc levels (p < 0.05) were found in the SUPP gr oup at 1 and 3 months, and improved linear growth velocity was found i n the SUPP group over the study period for the whole group as well as for girls alone. Maximum motor development scores were higher (p = 0.0 18) in the SUPP (98 +/- 10) than the PLAC (90 +/- 8) group, indicating that increased zinc intake in early infancy may be beneficial to VLBW infants.