Scientists pinpoint causes of zinc deficiency

Scientists have used quantitative analysis processes to determine the cause of zinc deficiency ZD during pregnancy.

Published by the BMC Public Health journal, the report by the College of Agriculture, School of Public Health and School of Medicine in Ethiopia noted that while many studies have suggested that prenatal ZD predisposes women to range of pregnancy complications, the causes are inconclusive.

The team tested 700 randomly selected pregnant women in the Sidama zone, Southern Ethiopia, for the study. They were asked to take a written questionnaire and their serum zinc concentration was measured using Atomic Absorption Spectrometry.

Around 53 per cent of the test subjects were found to have ZD, with the majority linked to dietary factors and consumption of animal source foods.

Compared to women aged between 15 and 24 years, mothers aged 25-34 and 35-49 years had 1.57 and 2.18 times higher risk of ZD respectively.

Furthermore, women who had had five or more children were 1.74 times more likely to be zinc deficient than those who had never given birth to a viable child.

Altitude, history of iron supplementation, maternal workload, physical access to health service, antenatal care and nutrition education were not associated to zinc status.

Posted by Ben Evans