Pregnant women and children are the most susceptible groups related to zinc deficiency. The main objective of this meta-analysis and systematic review was to estimate the national pooled incidence and related factors of zinc deficiency in pregnant women and children in Ethiopia.

Studies documented on zinc deficiency and related factors among pregnant women and children were searched on PubMed, CINAHL, Scopus, Google Scholar and Google. An ideal reporting item was used for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) checklist. Two authors had independently reviewed the searched studies. The outcome of the meta-analysis was the incidence of zinc deficiency.

Thirteen studies were included in this meta-analysis. Out of them 7 studies were among pregnant women with total 2371 pregnant women participants and 6 studies were among children with total 5154 children participants. The pooled incidence of zinc deficiency was 59.9% and 38.4% among pregnant women and children, respectively. The associated risk factors for zinc deficiency among pregnant women according to the findings were coffee intake, low intake of animal source foods and inadequate diet diversity.

The meta-analysis concluded that overall, zinc deficiency among pregnant women and children is an important public health concern. Dietary modification should be promoted to improve the bioavailability of zinc along with diet diversity, and also consume animal source foods to minimize the problem among pregnant women and children. Zinc supplementation should be considered for pregnant women and children.

Source: Berhe K, Gebrearegay F, Gebremariam H. Prevalence and associated factors of zinc deficiency among pregnant women and children in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Public Health. 2019 Dec 11;19(1):1663. doi: 10.1186/s12889-019-7979-3. PMID: 31829213; PMCID: PMC6907210.