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Objective: To assess the impact of zinc supplementation during acute diarrhoea on subsequent growth and morbidity in malnourished young children.Design: Double blind randomized controlled clinical trialSetting: International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh.Subjects: Sixty-five children aged 3-24 months with acute diarrhoea for less than 3 d.Intervention: Either elemental zinc (20 mg/d) in a multivitamin syrup or multivitamin syrup alone divided in three divided daily doses for a period of two weeks. Children were followed up weekly at home to assess subsequent growth and morbidity for a period of eight weeks.Main Outcome Measures: Gain in length and body weight and reduction in diarrhoea and respiratory tract infection.Results: During the follow-up, zinc supplemented children showed significantly greater cumulative length gain (18.9 mm vs 14.5 mm, P <0.03) and comparable body weight gain than the children of the control group. Subsequent length gain was not correlated with initial height in the zinc-supplemented group (r=-0.13), P = 0.5), but was significantly correlated in the control group (r = -0.6, P < 0.0007). Zinc-supplemented and stunted children (< or = 90% length for age n = 18) experienced significantly fewer episodes of diarrhoea (0.07 vs 0.6, P < 0.05) and respiratory illness (1.0 vs 2.4, P < 0.01) compared to the control group. The underweight children (< or = 71% weight/age n = 38) receiving zinc-supplementation also had fewer episodes of diarrhoea (0.4 vs 1.0, P<0.04) and shorter duration of diarrhoeal episodes (1.0 vs 3.0d, P<0.04) compared to their counterparts in the control group.Conclusion: These results suggest that a short course of zinc supplementation to malnourished children during acute diarrhoea reduces growth-faltering and diarrhoeal and respiratory morbidity during subsequent two months. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the prevalence of anaemia and iron deficiency among adolescent schoolgirls in peri-urban Bangladesh, and to identify various factors associated with anaemia in this population., Design: A cross-sectional design., Setting: Girls' high schools in five sub-districts of Dhaka., Subjects: Adolescent girls (n=548) aged 11-16 y from nine schools in Dhaka district participated in the study. Socio-economic, anthropometric and dietary information were collected. Blood haemoglobin (Hb), serum iron, total iron binding capacity (TIBC), transferrin saturation (TS), serum ferritin (SF) and serum retinol (vitamin A) were determined., Results: The prevalence of anaemia (Hb<120 g/l) among the participants was 27%. Seventeen percent had depleted iron stores (SF<12 microg/l). Of all anaemic girls, 32% had iron deficiency anaemia (Hb<120 g/l and SF<12 microg/l). When the girls were classified by serum vitamin A, the third with the lowest serum retinol levels had significantly lower Hb and SF levels. Significant positive correlations were observed between Hb and serum iron, TS, SF and retinol, while there was a negative correlation with serum TIBC. Occupancy, frequency of consumption of large fish, serum iron, TIBC, TS, SF and serum vitamin A were strongly related to Hb by multiple regression analysis. For 1 microg/l change in SF concentration, there was a 0.046 g/l change in Hb, when adjusted for all other factors., Conclusion: Anaemia among these adolescent schoolgirls in peri-urban Bangladesh cannot be explained by iron deficiency alone, and other causes may also exist in this population.