Zinc Nutritional Status of Preschool Children in Riyadh City

Ali A. Alshatwi

Zinc (Zn) status of 178 children was evaluated using biochemical and dietary measure. Dietary zinc intake ranged between 2.15 and 10.7 mg/day at age 2-3 years, and 1.21 and 15.6 mg/day at age 4-6 y with an overall sample mean of 5.6 and 5.8 mg/day, respectively. Dietary zinc intake assessment showed that 22 % of the studied sample consumed less than the dietary reference intake at age 2-3 y, and 40 % at age 4-6 y. Plasma zinc ranged between 6.7 and 18.7 µmol/L with an overall sample mean of 12.1 µmol/L. Moreover, nearly eighteen (18.3) percent of all of children had serum zinc concentrations below 10.0 µM/L (65 µg/dL) and only 3.3 % had serum zinc concentrations below 7.7 µM/L. The dietary records and the concentrations of Zn in plasma used in this study suggesting there is risk of Zn deficiency in pre-school children. To improve zinc status in pre-school children, zinc fortified food may be an effective approch. Zinc supplementation is recommended, mainly for individuals who are at risk of zinc depletion.