Estimating the global prevalence of zinc deficiency: results based on zinc availability in national food supplies and the prevalence of stunting
Wessells KR, Brown KH
Published in PLoS One, Vol. 7 (11), pp. e50568
Methodology
Cross-national modelling study. Estimated the share of each country's population with inadequate zinc intake from FAO food balance sheets (absorbable zinc and phytate), International Zinc Nutrition Consultative Group requirements and UN demographic data, then compared it with stunting prevalence.
Key Findings
An estimated 17.3% of the world's population is at risk of inadequate zinc intake, highest in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Risk was higher where the food supply had a high phytate-to-zinc ratio and little zinc from animal foods, and tracked stunting in children under five (r = 0.48, P<0.001).
Conclusions
Inadequate dietary zinc may be fairly common; biochemical and dietary surveys are needed in high-risk countries.
Limitations
Estimates intake from food supplies, not from measured intakes or blood zinc; depends on assumptions about requirements and phytate; correlation with stunting does not prove cause.
Supplements Studied
An estimated 17.3% of the world's population is at risk of inadequate zinc intake.
Related Health Concerns
Study Details
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