Nowadays, zinc deficiency is widely recognized as one of the leading risk factors for morbidity and mortality. It is estimated to be accountable for nearly 800,000 excess deaths annually in children below 5 years of age.

The objective of this study is to assess the effect of zinc supplementation as an adjunct therapy in the treatment of pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and tuberculosis in children below the age of 5 years. An all-inclusive literature search of electronic databases to distinguish randomized, controlled trials on the topic was conducted. Eligible studies that were identified during search were reviewed by the authors and extraction of data was done. Statistical analyses were also done with the use of Review Manager software.

The analysis of the adjunctive therapeutic benefit of zinc supplementation in acute diarrhea supported existing reviews. It provides evidence of decrease in the duration of acute diarrhea by 0.5 day (p = .002) in children below the age of 5 years. But, supplementation of zinc had no beneficial effect in infants under 6 months of age. A beneficial impact of zinc supplementation as an adjunctive treatment was found in persistent diarrhea and the duration was reduced by 0.68 day (p < .0001). Evidence regarding the benefit of zinc supplementation in pneumonia and malaria was inadequate, while there were no studies available in children with tuberculosis.

Thus, the study concluded that the existing literature provides enough evidence of a beneficial outcome of therapeutic zinc supplementation in decreasing the duration of acute and persistent diarrhea. Evidence for the effect of zinc on malaria, pneumonia and tuberculosis in children below the age of 5 years is scarce and requires further evaluation.

Source: Haider BA, Bhutta ZA. The effect of therapeutic zinc supplementation among young children with selected infections: a review of the evidence. Food Nutr Bull. 2009;30(1 Suppl):S41-S59. doi:10.1177/15648265090301S104