The Effect of Zinc Supplementation on Treatment of Acute Watery Diarrhea in 1-4 Year Old Children

Patients with diarrhea are susceptible to zinc deficiency. Zinc deficiency can cause growth retardation, delay in sexual maturity, behavior disorders, persistent diarrhea and abnormalities of immune system, susceptibility to respiratory and gastrointestinal infections and impairment of taste and smell perception. The aim of this study was to evaluate of the effect of oral zinc supplementation on the treatment of acute watery diarrhea. This study was a randomized double-blind placebo controlled clinical trial that was carried out in 139 children, aged 1 to 4 years, with acute watery diarrhea referred to two out-patient pediatric clinics in Yazd. Participants were randomly divided into two groups, zinc group (ZG) and placebo group (PG). The former group received zinc sulphate 2 mg/kg qd orally for 10 days and the latter group were treated with saline-dextrose solution (1/3:2/3). Duration and frequency of the diarrhea episodes were recorded in each group. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and Student t-test. The mean frequency of diarrhea at the first visit in ZG and PG groups were 4.6±1.7 and 4.2±1.5, respectively (p=0.1). At forty-eight to 72 h post-intervention, these values were 2.32±1.43 and 3.84±1.34 for girls (p=0.001), and 2.21±1.49 and 3.9±1.8 (p=0.001), for boys respectively. In general, after five days intervention, 45 patients (43%) were recovered, that 24 (53%) of them were from ZG. However, 10 days after the intervention the recovery rate in the ZG was markedly higher than the control group. At the end of the intervention, 80 (77%) patients, with 50 cases (66%) belonging to the ZG completely recovered. This study showed that oral zinc supplementation (2mg/kg qd) in children with acute watery diarrhea reduces the duration and severity of diarrhea.