Tahir Masood Ahmad, Muhammad Tariq Mahmood, Ghulam Raza Baluch, Muhammad Tariq Bhatti.
Serum Zinc Level in Children with Malnutrition.
J Coll Physicians Surg Pak Jan ;10(8):275-7.

Serum zinc level amongst children with protein energy malnutrition (PEM) was evaluated in a control study conducted in the Department of Paediatrics, Allama lqbal Medical College and Jinnah Hospital, Lahore. Twenty-five children with PEM and 25 healthy children as control from the community were screened. Mean serum zinc level was found to be 54.48 ± 18.91 mg/dl in children with PEM while it was 72.72 ±8.21 mg/dl in control group (P< 0.001). No significant difference in zinc level was noted between both sexes in each group. Marasmic 16 children revealed mean serum zinc level of 57.55 ± 18.16 mg/dl while in Kwashiorkor it was 44.57 ± 13.66 mg/dl. Serum zinc was significantly low in Kwashiorkor than in marasmus (P < 0.001). It was also significantly low in children with acute or chronic diarrhoea associated with malnutrition (44.66 ± 16.0 mg/dl). Acute respiratory infections in these children were not associated with low serum zinc level (71.66 ± 16.51 mg/dl).

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