Effect of the consumption of a food supplement on plasma zinc concentrations of free-living Chilean elderly adults

Zinc intake is well below recommendation among Chilean free living elderly adults of low socioeconomic level. To assess the effect of the consumption of a food supplement on plasma zinc concentrations in elderly adults (EA). Ambulatory EA (> or = 70) with controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus or hi...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Revista medíca de Chile 2007-08, Vol.135 (8), p.1015-1024
Main Authors: Ramos H, Rosa Isela, Atalah S, Eduardo, Urteaga R, Carmen, Castañeda L, Rutila, Orozco L, Maribel, Avila, Laura, Martínez, Homero
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Subjects:
Aged
Chile
Diet
Diet Surveys
Dietary Supplements - analysis
Dietary Supplements - statistics & numerical data
Energy Intake
Female
Follow-Up Studies
Food Services
Humans
Linear Models
Male
National Health Programs
Nutritional Status
Program Evaluation
Zinc - administration & dosage
Zinc - blood
Zinc - deficiency
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Summary:Zinc intake is well below recommendation among Chilean free living elderly adults of low socioeconomic level. To assess the effect of the consumption of a food supplement on plasma zinc concentrations in elderly adults (EA). Ambulatory EA (> or = 70) with controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus or high blood pressure, ascribed to public family health centers were studied. They were separated in a control and intervention group, without blinding techniques. The intervention group consumed daily 50 g of a special nutritional supplement prepared as a soup or porridge, provided by the Government, for 3 months. The control group did not receive the supplement. A good compliance with the supplement was defined as a consumption of 7 portions per week. A fasting venous blood sample was obtained to determine plasma zinc at the beginning and end of the study. Forty three supplemented EA aged 76+/-5 years (21 women) and 31 non supplemented EA aged 78+/-5 years (20 women), completed 3 months of follow up. Mean compliance with the supplement was 40.5% (95% confidence intervals (CI) 40.3-40.6%). General characteristics of the study subjects upon recruitment were similar, except for the literacy that was higher in the intervention group. We fitted a multiple linear regression model which explained 39% of the variance, where the consumption of the nutritional supplement increased the concentration of plasmatic zinc by 4.14 microg/dL (95% CI 0.25-8.02) (p
ISSN:0034-9887