For kids in poverty, no brain benefit to iron, zinc

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For kids in poverty, no brain benefit to iron, zinc

(Reuters Health) - Giving impoverished infants iron and zinc supplements to

prevent nutritional deficiencies may not have lasting benefits for their mental

skills, a new study shows.

The findings, from a study of school-age children in northeastern Thailand,

suggest that iron and zinc do not boost their IQ, memory or other intellectual

abilities -- at least not when the minerals are given only during infancy.

Iron and zinc are important to normal brain development, and children in

developing nations are at risk of deficiencies in both minerals.

Some studies have found that giving these children iron and zinc during infancy

can improve their blood levels of the nutrients, and possibly help them reach

some developmental milestones sooner -- like walking on their own.

But little has been known about whether those supplements have lasting benefits.

In the new study, researchers assessed 560 nine-year-olds in Thailand who, as

infants, had been randomly assigned to have supplements of iron, zinc, both

nutrients, or a placebo (a substance that looked like the real supplements but

didn't contain any nutrients). The infants received the supplements or the

placebo for 6 months, starting between the ages of 4 and 6 months.

At the age of 9 years, the children were given a variety of standard tests of

their IQ, memory, attention and school performance. Overall, the researchers

found no differences in the average test scores of children who had received

iron, zinc or the placebo.

But the findings do not necessarily mean that iron and zinc supplements offer no

brain benefit to children in the developing world.

" It is too soon to tell, " said senior researcher Dr. Reynaldo Martorell, of

Emory University in Atlanta, an author of the report that appears in the

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

One possibility, Martorell told Reuters Health in an email, is that the

supplements need to be started sooner -- given to mothers during pregnancy --

and continued through at least a child's first 2 years.

A recent study of schoolchildren in rural Nepal found that when mothers took

iron and folic acid during pregnancy, their kids did better on tests of

intelligence and fine motor skills.

But it's also possible, according to Martorell, that iron and zinc, or any two

nutrients, are not enough. " Maybe all nutrient intakes need to be improved, not

just two, " he said.

" I think the evidence will eventually show that in order to have long-term

benefits on (the brain), major deficiencies in early life -- such as iron and

zinc, but others as well -- need to be addressed, " Martorell said.

Still, the researcher added, there are many short-term reasons to ensure that

infants and children in the developing world have enough iron and zinc. There is

some evidence, for example, that zinc supplements help prevent or treat diarrhea

-- a major killer of children in poor nations.

Iron supplements can also prevent some cases of anemia, a disorder in which the

blood's oxygen-carrying capacity is reduced -- causing problems like fatigue,

dizziness and breathlessness.

Few children in the current study had overt iron deficiency as infants, when

their supplements were started. But worldwide, iron deficiency is the most

common nutritional disorder, affecting 2 billion people, according to the World

Health Organization.

SOURCE: bit.ly/dLqFS5 American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, online January 26,

2011.

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> Epsom salt baths are great and have that info below...having an ADHD son

however that I used these baths with not from what I've seen for staying with

the shopping cart when you are at the mall or store when he was little, or for

sitting still in class and not having to stand up and walk around for academics,

and not for getting into everything due to lack of focus however- all of that

came from essential nutrients and from the traditional sense some strategies

-but for ADHD -yes the essential nutrients no question!

>

> I no longer am so much into supplements however. And zinc included. Ever

since reading about zinc poisoning in the denture creams

http://www.webmd.com/oral-health/news/20110215/zinc-poisoning-linked-to-popular-\

denture-creams -and probably especially after what this group went through with

the mega levels of vitamin E in Pharma Omega speak where seizures and profound

regressions as well as severe head and stomach cramping were reported -I'm very

leery of supplementing blindly.

>

> I now highly recommend parents search for essential nutrients via food sources

which is proven now for over one thousand families in over a year to have just

about across the board results. There are so many dramatic mind blowing

testimonies for so many different conditions and ages that I honestly don't even

know where to put them all anymore and am going to start a testimony of the week

part of the site here http://www.pursuitofresearch.org Here is info anyone can

share with their child's doctor

http://pursuitofresearch.org/find-a-professional/