EFFECT OF THE SUPPLEMENTATION OF ZINC AND/OR MICRONUTRIENTS ON CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT.

Objective: In order to investigate the effect of zinc and/or micronutrients compound intervention on the physicaldevelopment in pre-school children. Methods: 480 children were divided into 3 groups: zinc group, micronutrients group, zincplus micronutrients group. During the experiment of 10 weeks, the children were supplied with zinc, micronutrients or zinc plusmicronutrients respectively. Results: The data showed that the increases of children's height and weight were significantly higherin micronutrients and zinc plus micronutrients groups than those in zinc group. Conclusion: it suggests that the supplementationof mieronutrients compound should promote children's growth and development, and that attention should be paid to the supplementation of other nutrients while zinc be supplied for children.