Sunil Sazawal|Usha Dhingra|Pratibha Dhingra|Arup Dutta|Saikat Deb|Jitendra Kumar|Prabhabati Devi|Ashish Prakash
Efficacy of high zinc biofortified wheat in improvement of micronutrient status, and prevention of morbidity among preschool children and women - a double masked, randomized, controlled trial
Subharti Medical College
biofortification staple food crops zinc zn one costeffective sustainable strategies combat zinc deficiency prevent morbidity among target population agronomic approaches application zn fertilizers soil andor foliar spray seem practical tool zn biofortification wheat however need evaluate efficacy randomized controlled trials study aimed evaluate efficacy zinc biofortified wheat flour zinc status impact morbidity among children aged 46 years nonpregnant non lactating woman child bearing age wcba delhi indiain community based doublemasked randomized controlled trial 6005 participants wcba child pairs enrolled randomly allocated receive either high zinc biofortified wheat flour hzn 30 ppm zinc daily low zinc biofortified wheat flour lzn 20 ppm zinc daily 6 months wcba 360 gday children 120 gday baseline endline blood samples obtained assessing hematological markers zinc status data compliance morbidity collectedcompliance rates high 88 wcbas groups consumed 50 recommended amount biofortfied wheat flour follow similarly 869 children hzn 875 lzn consumed 50 recommended wheat flour intake significant difference mean zinc levels groups end study observation might due marginal difference zinc content 10 ppm hzn lzn wheat flour short intervention period however positive impact biofortification selfreported morbidity observed compared children lzn group children hzn group 17 95 ci 6 31 p 005 40 95 ci 16 57 p 00019 reduction days pneumonia vomiting respectively wcba hzn group also showed statistically significant 9 fewer days fever compared lzn groupbiofortified wheat flour good compliance among children wcbas significant improvement selfreported morbidity indicators suggests evaluating longerterm effects biofortification higher grain zinc content would appropriatehttpctrinicinclinicaltrials ctri201404004527 registered april 7 2014