The Study
Impact of zinc supplementation on diarrheal morbidity and growth pattern of low birth weight infants in kolkata, India: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, community-based study.
This study gave some babies zinc and others a fake pill to see if zinc helped them get sick less. It found that babies who got zinc got diarrhea a little less often, so we can say zinc probably helped. But we can't say it always works or works for every baby.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Babies who got a tiny daily zinc pill for a year had fewer tummy bugs and grew a bit more than babies who got a fake pill.
Where does this study sit?
Systematic Reviews & Meta-analyses
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control
Max 58Cross-Sectional
Max 44Case Reports & Series
Max 30Expert Opinion
Max 569 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. Considered the gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — fewer tummy bugs and better growth matter a lot for babies in poor areas, even if the numbers seem small.
- 2Zinc babies had 1.36 diarrhea episodes per year vs.
- 31.93 in placebo babies; they grew more in height and weight by age 1, but only if they weren't breastfed much.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Pediatrics
Year
2003
Authors
D. Sur, D. N. Gupta, S. Mondal, Subrato Ghosh, B. Manna, K. Rajendran, S. Bhattacharya
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.