Zinc supplementation during pregnancy and effects on growth and morbidity in low birthweight infants: a randomised placebo controlled trial.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, published as a randomized controlled trial.

Infant malnutrition and mortality rates are high in less-developed countries especially in low-birthweight infants.

Zinc deficiency is also widely prevalent in these circumstances.

Who Took Part

The study group was 199 infants.

PubMed tags the participants as women only.

Infants' anthropometric measurements were done every month, and their serum zinc was assessed at 1 and 6 months of age.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Because people in this Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study were split into groups at random, differences between the groups are less likely to reflect who happened to join each one.

Neither the infants nor the staff measuring them knew who was on Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, so expectations could not easily colour the readings.

Some infants received a placebo instead of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc, giving a reference point.

Infants were followed up until 6 months of age.

The researchers obtained data for morbidity every week by mothers' recall.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anthropometry, Bangladesh, Cough, Developing Countries, Diarrhea, Infantile, Dietary Supplements and Dysentery.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 199 infants.

Its findings take up roughly 5 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2001 (Lancet (London, England)), a journal based in England.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page, all human trials.