,
Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara , Medan , Indonesia
Department of Nutrition, School of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara , Medan , Indonesia
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, School of Medicine, Universitas Sumatera Utara , Medan , Indonesia
Department of Paediatrics, School of Medicine, Universitas Padjadjaran , Bandung , Indonesia
Aim
To investigate the influence of zinc supplementation on pregnant women for the prevention of stunting through an analysis
of maternal serum zinc, cord blood osteocalcin and neonatal birth length.
Methods
This study was conducted with pre-test/post-test control groups and double-blind randomization. Patients were pregnant
mothers in second or third trimester and with their newborns who met the inclusion criteria. A total of 71 pregnant mothers and their newborns completed this study. They were divided into two groups of 35 and 36 patients, the supplementation (20 mg/day) and placebo groups, respectively for 12 weeks. The parameters assessed were maternal serum zinc levels, cord blood osteocalcin and birth length measurements.
Results
The mean maternal serum zinc level was 54.6±8.7 µg/dL from 71 patients. The mean maternal serum zinc levels after zinc
supplementation were significantly higher than those of the placebo group: 55.1±9.9 to 59.1±8.6) μg/dL (p=0.017) and 54.2±7.5 to 50±8.6 μg/dL (p=0.001), respectively. The comparison of mean cord blood osteocalcin levels and median neonatal birth lengths in the supplementation group was higher than in the placebo group: 131.8±35.3 vs 90.6±35.4 ng/ml (p=0.001) and 49.3 (46.5-51.3) vs 48.3 (46-50.8) cm (p=0.004), respectively. Maternal serum zinc levels after zinc supplementation had a positive significant correlation with cord blood osteocalcin and neonatal birth length: r=0.434
(p=0.001) and r=0.597 (p=0.001), respectively.
Conclusion
There was a significant correlation of maternal serum zinc with cord blood osteocalcin and neonatal birth length after
zinc supplementation.
This work is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International 
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