Table 1.

Preventive and therapeutic supplements provided to each study group in the Lao Zinc Study

	Center TZ	Center PZ	Center MNP	Center CONTROL
Preventive supplement	Placebo tablet	Zn-containing tablet (7 mg/day)	MNP (containing 10 mg Zn, 6 mg Fe, +13 other micronutrients*)	Placebo powder
Therapeutic supplement for diarrhea	ORS + Zn tablet (20 mg/day) for 10 day starting with acute diarrhea episodes	ORS + Placebo tablet	ORS + Placebo tablet	ORS + Placebo tablet

MNP – micronutrient powder; ORS – oral rehydration salt; PZ – preventive zinc supplementation; TZ – therapeutic zinc supplementation for diarrhea

*MN contents of one daily dose MNP sachet: vitamin A (400 μg RE), thiamin (0.5 mg), riboflavin (0.5 mg), niacin (6 mg), vitamin B6 (0.5 mg), folic acid (150 μg DFE), cyanocobalamin (0.9 μg), ascorbic acid (30 mg), cholecalciferol (5 mg), dl-α-tocopheryl acetate (5 mg TE), copper sulphate anhydrous (to provide 0.56 mg copper), potassium iodate (to provide 90 μg iodine), ferrous fumarate (to provide 6 mg iron), selenium selenite (to provide 17 μg selenium), zinc gluconate (to provide 10 mg zinc).