Effect of zinc supplementation of pregnant women on the mental and psychomotor development of their children at 5 y of age

Am J Clin Nutr. 2003 Jun;77(6):1512-6. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/77.6.1512.

Abstract

Background: A negative effect of prenatal zinc deficiency on brain function has been well established in experimental animals, but this association in humans is controversial.

Objective: We evaluated the effect of prenatal zinc supplementation on the mental and psychomotor development of 355 children whose mothers participated in a double-blind trial of zinc supplementation that resulted in increased head circumference and birth weight.

Design: The children took 6 tests-the Differential Ability Scales, Visual Sequential Memory, Auditory Sequential Memory, Knox Cube, Gross Motor Scale, and Grooved Pegboard tests-at a mean age of 5.3 y. The scores were compared between the children of women who received a daily oral dose of 25 mg Zn during the second half of pregnancy and the children of women who received placebo.

Results: There were no differences in the test scores of neurologic development between the 2 groups. We analyzed the scores in 4 subgroups on the basis of maternal body mass index, because the increases in birth weight and head circumference due to the supplementation occurred only in the children of women with a body mass index (in kg/m(2)) < 26.0 in the original trial. No differences in the scores were found between these subgroups.

Conclusions: Zinc supplementation of women in the latter half of pregnancy had no effect on the neurologic development of their children at age 5 y. It is not known whether our findings of no positive effect in the population with apparently inadequate zinc nutriture can be readily extrapolated to other populations.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Body Mass Index
  • Child Development / drug effects*
  • Child, Preschool
  • Dietary Supplements*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Nervous System / growth & development*
  • Pregnancy
  • Psychomotor Performance / drug effects*
  • Zinc / pharmacology*

Substances

  • Zinc