Simultaneous weekly supplementation of iron and zinc is associated with lower morbidity due to diarrhea and acute lower respiratory infection in Bangladeshi infants.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Compared with the control group, at 12 mo, serum ferritin levels were higher in the iron + zinc group, and serum zinc levels were higher in the zinc and iron + zinc groups.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 799 infants taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are infants.

How the Study Was Run

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

The infants were allocated by chance, so the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc group and the comparison group should start out alike.

Blinding on both sides kept the infants and researchers unaware of who received Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc.

Hemoglobin, serum ferritin and serum zinc levels of a sample of infants were measured at 6 and 12 mo.

What Was Measured

Compared with the control group, at 12 mo, serum ferritin levels were higher in the iron + zinc group, and serum zinc levels were higher in the zinc and iron + zinc groups.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Acute Disease, Bangladesh, Diarrhea, Dietary Supplements, Drug Combinations, Incidence and Iron.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and double-blind study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc in 799 infants.

With several hundred people or more, it is a fairly large study for this kind of research.

The publication is from 2003 (The Journal of nutrition), a journal based in United States.

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