Zinc and multivitamin supplementation have contrasting effects on infant iron status: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

What Was Tested

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

Zinc (Zn) supplementation adversely affects iron status in animal and adult human studies, but few trials have included young infants.

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of Zn and multivitamin (MV) supplementation on infant hematologic and iron status.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 589 infants taking part.

The age groups tagged for this paper are infants.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as 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.

As a double-blind Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc study, the assignments were hidden from both participants and investigators until the end.

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

Hemoglobin concentration (Hb) and red blood cell indices were measured at baseline and at 6, 12 and 18 months of age.

Plasma samples from 589 infants were examined for iron deficiency (ID) at 6 months.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Anemia, Iron-Deficiency, Dietary Supplements, Ferritins, Hemoglobins, Infant Nutritional Physiological Phenomena, Iron and Iron Deficiencies.

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 589 infants.

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

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 6 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2018 (European journal of clinical nutrition), a journal based in England.

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