Table 2.
Infant and maternal dietary intake, maternal breast milk zinc content and serum zinc
| Parameters* | Month 1 | Month 3 | Month 6 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Infant age (days) | 30 ± 2 | 94 ± 13 | 182 ± 17 |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 50) | |
| Infant dietary intake | |||
| Infant BM intake (mL day−1) | 627 ± 170 | 744 ± 183 | 608 ± 235 † |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 49) | |
| Infant NBM water intake (mL day−1) | 83 ± 115 | 160 ± 147 | 389 ± 455 ‡ |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 49) | |
| BM zinc content (mg L−1) § | 2.50 (2.03, 3.26) | 1.37 (0.89, 1.79) | 1.17 (0.80, 1.60) |
| (n = 50) | (n = 47) | (n = 50) | |
| Zinc intake from BM (mg day−1) § | 1.60 (1.13, 2.19) | 0.88 (0.67, 1.36) | 0.68 (0.51, 1.13) |
| (n = 50) | (n = 47) | (n = 49) | |
| Zinc intake from BM (mg kg−1 day−1) § | 0.43 (0.32, 0.53) | 0.15 (0.11, 0.22) | 0.10 (0.06, 0.16) |
| (n = 50) | (n = 47) | (n = 49) | |
| Zinc intake from reported CFs (mg day−1) ¶ | – | – | 0.90 (0.45, 1.12) |
| (n = 16) | |||
| Maternal dietary intake | |||
| Energy intake/kg bodyweight (kcal kg−1 day−1) | 32.7 ± 12.8 | 34.6 ± 13.1 | 32.3 ± 13.8 |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 48) | |
| Zinc intake (mg day−1) | 7.6 ± 2.9 | 7.7 ± 2.3 | 7.8 ± 2.8 |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 50) | |
| Infant and maternal zinc levels | |||
| Maternal serum zinc (µg dL−1) | – | 83.5 ± 26.5 | 92.2 ± 25.1 |
| (n = 40) | (n = 43) | ||
| Infant serum zinc (µg dL−1) | – | 93.0 ± 27.1 | 99.6 ± 30.1 |
| (n = 31) | (n = 32) | ||
| Proportion of zinc deficient mothers** | – | 0.32 (0.18, 0.46) | 0.16 (0.05, 0.27) |
| (n = 40) | (n = 43) | ||
| Proportion of zinc deficient infants** | – | 0.16 (0.03, 0.29) | 0.09 (−0.01, 0.19) |
| (n = 31) | (n = 32) | ||
| Infant anthropometry | |||
| Bodyweight (kg) | 3.8 ± 0.6 | 5.6 ± 0.8 | 7.2 ± 1.0 |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 50) | |
| Body length (cm) | 53.2 ± 2.4 | 60.8 ± 2.8 | 65.8 ± 2.7 |
| (n = 49) | (n = 47) | (n = 50) | |
| Weight‐for‐age z‐score | −1.21 ± 1.27 | −1.07 ± 1.14 | −0.80 ± 1.30 |
| (n = 50) | (n = 48) | (n = 50) | |
| Weight‐for‐length z‐score | −0.62 ± 1.38 | −0.39 ± 1.32 | −0.71 ± 1.26 |
| (n = 49) | (n = 47) | (n = 50) | |
| Length‐for‐age z‐score | −1.03 ± 1.81 | −1.00 ± 1.65 | −0.34 ± 1.48 |
| (n = 48) | (n = 47) | (n = 49) |
BM, breast milk; CFs, complementary foods; NBM, non‐breast milk. *Parameters are mean ± standard deviation/median (25th, 75th percentile). †BM intake at month 3 is significantly different from that of month 1 (P < 0.05) and BM intake at month 6 is significantly different from that of month 3 (P < 0.05) by Bonferroni adjusted pair wise comparisons in repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA). ‡NBM water intake at month 6 is significantly different from that of month 1 (P < 0.05) and month 3 (P < 0.05) by Bonferroni adjusted pairwise comparisons in RMANOVA. §BM Zn content and BM Zn intake significantly different between months 1, 3 and 6 by Friedman test, P < 0.001. All pair wise comparisons were significant by Wilcoxon rank test, Bonferroni adjusted P‐value <0.001. ¶The median Zn intake from CFs has been reported only for those infants whose mothers reported having given CFs. **Values are expressed as proportion (95% confidence interval: lower bound, upper bound).