Impact of zinc supplementation on morbidity from diarrhea and respiratory infections among rural Guatemalan children.

What Was Tested

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

A community-based, randomized, double-blind intervention trial was conducted to measure the impact of zinc supplementation on young Guatemalan children's morbidity from diarrhea and respiratory infections.

Who Took Part

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

How the Study Was Run

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

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

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

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

Diagnoses of diarrhea, fever, and anorexia were based on mothers' definitions.

Respiratory infections were defined as the presence of at least two of the following symptoms: runny nose, cough, wheezing, difficulty breathing, or fever.

What Was Measured

The subject headings attached to it are Deficiency Diseases, Diarrhea, Infantile, Food, Fortified, Guatemala, Incidence, Morbidity and Respiratory Tract Infections.

What This Means in Plain Language

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

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 1997 (Pediatrics), a journal based in United States.

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