Efficacy of zinc supplementation in children aged 2-5 years in respiratory and gastrointestinal department of Thai Binh pediatric hospital

Abstract

Zinc plays an important role in the development of the body, which increases the uptake, protein synthesis, appetite, and effects on growth. This was a clinically interventional study in 182 patients to evaluate the effect of zinc supplementation (20 mg / day) for children between 13-60 months of age after 5 days of treatment at the Respiratory and Gastrointestinal Dept. in Thai Binh Pediatric Hospital (Group-CT) compared with Group-C (not treated with zinc). The prevalence of anemia in patients with acute diarrhea was significantly higher (43.9 %) compared with that of severe pneumonia (27.2%), p< 0.05. The prevalence in the Group-NC was 63.5% after intervention in Respiratory and in Gastrointestinal - 90.2% compared to pre-intervention prevalence of 76.9% and 94.1%, respectively with p<0.05. In respiratory group, the average duration of treatment for patients in Group-C was 8.4 ± 2.2 days, higher than in group-NC (8.3 ± 1.9), (p>0.05). In Gastrointestinal, average duration of treatment for patients in group-NC was 5.9 ± 2.7 days, in Group- C was (7.2 ± 2.6), p<0.05. So, Serum zinc levels after intervention in group -NC was higher than that of GroupC, with p<0.05 (Respiratory dept.) and p < 0.01 (Gastrointestinal dept.). The percentage of zinc deficiency in patients after intervention in group-NC decreased by 13.4% in respiratory dept. and in gastrointestinal by 2.5%. Zinc supplements can reduce hospitalization period significantly in pediatric patients. Therefore, zinc supplementation and nutritional guidelines for children with severe diarrhea, and pneumonia have positive effects to support treatment.