Low maternal zinc status has been associated with less attention during the neonatal period and worse motor functioning. In some studies, supplementation has been associated with motor development in very low birth weight infants and more vigorous and functional activity in infants and toddlers. Testosterone production
Zinc is required to produce testosterone. Thus, zinc deficiency can lead to reduced circulating testosterone, which could lead to sexual immaturity (Ananda Parsad, et al.) hypogonadism, and delayed puberty. Causes
Dietary deficiency
Zinc deficiency can be caused by a diet high in phytate-containing whole grains, foods grown in zinc deficient soil, or processed foods containing little or no zinc. Conservative estimates suggest that 25% of the worlds population is at risk of zinc deficiency.In the U.S., the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) is 8 mg/day for women and 11 mg/day for men. RDA for pregnancy is 11 mg/day. RDA for lactation is 12 mg/day. For infants up to 12 months the RDA is 3 mg/day. For children ages 1–13 years the RDA increases with age from 3 to 8 mg/day. The following table summarizes most of the foods with significant quantities of zinc, listed in order of quantity per serving, unfortified. Note that all of the top 10 entries are meat, beans, or nuts. Recent research findings suggest that increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations will exacerbate zinc deficiency problems in populations that consume grains and legumes as staple foods.
Even with zinc-efficient varieties, zinc fertilizers are needed when the available zinc in the topsoil becomes depleted. Plant breeding can improve zinc uptake capacity of plants under soil conditions with low chemical availability of zinc. Breeding can also improve zinc translocation which elevates zinc content in edible crop parts as opposed to the rest of the plant. Central Anatolia, in Turkey, was a region with zinc-deficient soils and widespread zinc deficiency in humans. In 1993, a research project found that yields could be increased by 6 to 8-fold and child nutrition dramatically increased through zinc fertilization. Zinc was added to fertilizers. While the product was initially made available at the same cost, the results were so convincing that Turkish farmers significantly increased the use of the zinc-fortified fertilizer (1 percent of zinc) within a few years, despite the repricing of the products to reflect the added value of the content. Nearly ten years after the identification of the zinc deficiency problem, the total amount of zinc-containing compound fertilizers produced and applied in Turkey reached a record level of 300,000 tonnes per annum. It is estimated that the economic benefits associated with the application of zinc fertilizers on zinc deficient soils in Turkey is around US$100 million per year. Zinc deficiency in children has been dramatically reduced. References
Further reading
Maret W (2013). "Chapter 14 Zinc and the Zinc Proteome". In Banci L (ed.). Metallomics and the Cell. Metal Ions in Life Sciences. Vol. 12. Springer. pp. 479–501. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-5561-1_14. ISBN 978-94-007-5560-4. ISSN 1559-0836. PMID 23595681. External links

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