An assessment of serum zinc status among school children in Neyriz

• Main Authors: AliAkbar Rashidi, Mosasa Salehi, Soheila Behnam
• Format: Article
• Language: fas
• Published: Jahrom University of Medical Sciences 2007-06-01
• Series: فصلنامه دانشگاه علوم پزشکی جهرم
• Subjects: zinc deficiency; school children; neyriz
• Online Access: http://jmj.jums.ac.ir/article-1-805-en.html

Introduction: Zinc is one of the essential trace elements present  in the structure of many enzymes and is essential for growth, development, reproduction, and  central nervous system and immune system function. This study was carried out  to determine serum zinc status among primary school children in Neyriz. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 205 randomly selected   primary school children with an age range of  7-11 years. 3ml fasting blood venous was obtained from children and the  serum zinc level was measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometer.  The  data  were analyzed using  descriptive tests and student t- test. Results:  The mean serum zinc concentration was 88.08±34.37 μg/dl , being significantly higher in boys (P< 0.05). 30.2% of them had zinc deficiency. Conclusion: The Results reveal that zinc deficiency is a nutritional problem among  primary school children. Further studies are recommended to be conducted in  inorder to find the main causes of zinc deficiency, aiming at eliminating it.