American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 26, 1251-1260, Copyright © 1973 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Zinc nutrition in the United States

¹ Director, USDA Human Nutrition Laboratory, 2420 Second Avenue North, Grand Forks, North Dakota 58201

Background data concerning the role of zinc in growth have been presented as have clinical observations on three zinc-responsive syndromes. It has been suggested that these syndromes represent the extreme end of the clinical spectrum of zinc nutrition. Their occurrence in the United States is thought to indicate that a larger portion of the population may have a marginal intake of zinc. To examine this hypothesis, the daily retention of zinc by growing individuals of various ages and physiological states has been estimated, and their zinc requirements have been calculated. The dietary requirement has been adjusted to account for the apparent availability of zinc from food. These data have then been used to assess the adequacy of diets reported in the literature.

If the estimate of the usual dietary availability of zinc is accurate, the findings suggest that some infants, pregnant women, teenage and college women, institutionalized individuals, and some living on low income diets have a marginal to deficient intake of zinc. It seems reasonable to presume that some of these people may be adversely affected by their marginal zinc status, especially if they experience unusual stress as may occur with disease or trauma.

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