General Experience with Zinc Supplementation: Are we Ready for Large-scale Supplementation Programs?

Zinc is an essential nutrient often lacking in children's diets, especially when there is a high prevalence of stunting. Although numerous supplementation trials have been conducted to determine whether zinc deficiency is present in the community, little attention has been devoted to assessing different strategies for providing additional zinc to children. Before starting large-scale zinc-supplementation programs, there are several key issues that need to be addressed, such as the optimal frequency of zinc delivery, possible interactions with other micronutrients, the merits of a food-based approach as compared with supplements, the type of food to fortify, and the effect on the bioavailability of zinc of mixing it with food.