Dietary Zinc Intakes Are Associated With Skeletal Muscle Mass and Strength in Children and Adolescents: Zinc and Muscle in Children

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between dietary zinc intakes and skeletal muscle mass and strength in children and adolescents. A retrospective study was conducted using data on United States adolescents aged 8 to 19 years. Data were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2011-2014 cycles. Subjects were divided into 3 groups based on the tertiles of dietary zinc intakes. The levels of appendicular skeletal muscle mass divided by weight (ASM/Wt, %) and grip in subjects with the highest tertile were higher than those in subjects with the middle and lowest tertiles ( P < .05). Dietary zinc intakes were positively correlated with ASM/Wt ( r = .221, P < .001) and grip ( r = 0.169, P < .001). After a multivariate analysis, dietary zinc intakes were still significantly associated with ASM/Wt ( β = 0.059, P < .001) and grip ( β = 0.245, P < .001). The present study demonstrates that dietary zinc intakes were positively associated with skeletal muscle mass and strength in children and adolescents.