Interrelationship of indices of body composition and zinc status in 11-yr-old New Zealand children

Serum zinc and hair zinc concentrations of some New Zealand children aged 1 1 yr, were examined in relation to selected anthropometric indices. Serum z inc concentrations (n = 453) in boys and girls were similar and were unrela ted to anthropometric indices and hair zinc concentrations. Mean hair zinc concentration (n = 620) of the girls was higher than that for the boys (2.9 5 +/- 0.49 vs 2.46 +/- 0.47 mu mol/g; p < 0.001). Correlation analysis demo nstrated that, for the boys, all the studied anthropometric indices, with t he exception of height, were significantly related to hair zinc concentrati on and that the confounding effects of mid-parent height and the timing of the adolescent growth spurt was small. Results for the girls were similar b ut less significant. Dichotomizing the hair zinc results divided both the b oys and girls into two groups: those with hair zinc < 2.44 mu mol/g were he avier (girls, 39.0 vs 35.2 kg; boys, 36.6 vs 34.7 kg) and fatter (midupper- arm fat area: girls, 15.2 vs 12.0 cm(2); boys, 11.1 vs 9.5 cm(2)) compared to their counterparts with hair zinc > 2.44 mu mol/g. The results demonstra te that in these healthy New Zealand children, those with lower hair zinc c oncentrations are fatter and heavier than their highhair-zinc counterparts.