Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia

Tessema, Masresha; De Groote, Hugo; D. Brouwer, Inge; J.M. Feskens, Edith; Belachew, Tefera; Zerfu, Dilnesaw; Belay, Adamu; Demelash, Yoseph; S. Gunaratna, Nilupa

doi:10.3390/nu11020221

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Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia

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Division of Human Nutrition and Health, Wageningen University, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands

Food Science and Nutrition Research Directorate, Ethiopian Public Health Institute, Gulele Sub City, 1242 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Human Nutrition Unit, Jimma University, P.O. Box 378, Jimma, Ethiopia

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International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), 1041-00621 Nairobi, Kenya

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Department of Nutrition Science and Public Health Graduate Program, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Nutrients 2019, 11(2), 221; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020221

Received: 28 November 2018 / Revised: 26 December 2018 / Accepted: 14 January 2019 / Published: 22 January 2019

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Complementary Feeding in Infants)

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Abstract

To our knowledge, the relationships among soil zinc, serum zinc and children’s linear growth have not been studied geographically or at a national level in any country. We use data from the cross-sectional, nationally representative Ethiopian National Micronutrient Survey (ENMS) (n = 1776), which provided anthropometric and serum zinc (n = 1171) data on children aged 6–59 months. Soil zinc levels were extracted for each child from the digital soil map of Ethiopia, developed by the Africa Soil Information Service. Children’s linear growth was computed using length/height and age converted into Z-scores for height-for-age. Multi-level mixed linear regression models were used for the analysis. Nationally, 28% of children aged 6–59 months were zinc deficient (24% when adjusted for inflammation) and 38% were stunted. Twenty percent of households in the ENMS were located on zinc-deficient soils. Soil zinc (in mg/kg) was positively associated with serum zinc (in µg/dL) (b = 0.9, p = 0.020) and weight-for-height-Z-score (b = 0.05, p = 0.045) but linear growth was not associated with soil zinc (p = 0.604) or serum zinc (p = 0.506) among Ethiopian preschool children. Intervention studies are needed to determine whether there are causal links between soil and human zinc status. View Full-Text

Keywords: soil zinc; serum zinc; linear growth; soil fertility; preschool children; Ethiopia

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MDPI and ACS Style

Tessema, M.; De Groote, H.; D. Brouwer, I.; J.M. Feskens, E.; Belachew, T.; Zerfu, D.; Belay, A.; Demelash, Y.; S. Gunaratna, N. Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia. Nutrients 2019, 11, 221. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020221

AMA Style

Tessema M, De Groote H, D. Brouwer I, J.M. Feskens E, Belachew T, Zerfu D, Belay A, Demelash Y, S. Gunaratna N. Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia. Nutrients. 2019; 11(2):221. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020221

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tessema, Masresha, Hugo De Groote, Inge D. Brouwer, Edith J.M. Feskens, Tefera Belachew, Dilnesaw Zerfu, Adamu Belay, Yoseph Demelash, and Nilupa S. Gunaratna. 2019. "Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia" Nutrients 11, no. 2: 221. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu11020221

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Soil Zinc Is Associated with Serum Zinc But Not with Linear Growth of Children in Ethiopia

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