The zinc nutrition of rural Malawian children (24 females, 33 males; a
ge 62 +/- 10 mo) consuming cereal-based diets was compared with that o
f rural Ghanaian children (43 females, 33 males; age 59 +/- 10 mo) con
suming cereals or starchy staples, using hair zinc concentrations, gro
wth and body composition indices, and dietary intakes. Intakes of ener
gy, protein, Ca, Zn, dietary fiber and phytate at two seasons of the y
ear were estimated from 3-d weighed food records, using analyzed and l
iterature food composition values. The mean annual intakes of energy (
5419 +/- 1081 vs. 4698 +/- 885 kJ), protein (31.8 +/- 7.0 vs. 24.1 +/-
6.8 g), Zn (7.4 +/- 1.9 vs. 5.1 +/- 1.1 mg) and phytate (1899 +/- 590
vs. 604 +/- 151 mg), and the mean molar ratios of [phytate]/[Zn] and
[Cal x [phytate]/[Zn] mmol per MJ (25 +/- 4 vs. 12 +/- 2 and 44 +/- 13
vs 20 +/- 8 mmol/MJ), were higher for Malawian than for Ghanaian chil
dren. More Malawian than Ghanaian children had [phytate]/[Zn] greater-
than-or-equal-to 15 (72% vs. 0%) and were severely stunted (57 vs. 28%
). Ninety-four percent of children in Malawi and 83% in the Ghanaian v
illage of Slepor had low hair Zn concentrations (< 1.68 mumol/g) compa
red with 39% in Gidantuba, Ghana. In Gidantuba, children with low hair
Zn concentrations had low upper-arm-muscle-area-for-age and upper-arm
-muscle-area-for-height Z-scores. The high intakes of phytic acid rela
tive to zinc in Malawi suggest that these children were at greater ris
k for inadequate zinc nutriture than their Ghanaian counterparts.