Dose-response trial of prophylactic zinc supplements, with or without copper, in young Ecuadorian children at risk of zinc deficiency.

What Was Tested

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

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 631 children taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were infants and young children, both men and women.

This randomized, double-masked, community-based intervention trial was conducted in 631 Ecuadorian children who were 12-30 mo old at baseline and who had initial length-for-age z scores <-1.3.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

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

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

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

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Child Development, Copper, Diarrhea, Dietary Supplements, Ecuador, Iron and Morbidity.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and Copper (Supplement) in 631 children.

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

Its findings take up roughly 6 sentences of the abstract and are left out here on purpose; the source paper is the place to read them.

The publication is from 2008 (The American journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in United States.

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